Even though many Americans failed to achieve their financial goals last year, they are still optimistic about setting new ones this year and making a plan for their financial future, according to a new study.

Charlotte, N.C.-based LendingTree conducted a survey to find out how Americans view the financial decisions they made and their feelings about the future. The numbers demonstrate that even though many tried to save last year, it didn’t work out for them. 

Of the more than 2,000 people surveyed, 17% said they failed to achieve their financial goals in 2022. In addition, 48% said they ended the year with regrets about their finances. However, regardless of those negative experiences, people are not letting it hinder them: 42% said they will set a money-related goal for this year, which is 17% higher than the number of people who established financial goals last year.

“We see an awful lot of people who think that they’ll be able to meet their financial goals in 2023, and that’s a good thing,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “With unpredictability with the economy, there’s reason to be concerned, but it’s good that Americans do seem to be optimistic as the new year begins.”

The optimism stems from improvements in the markets over 2022. Of those who said they failed to reach their financial goals last year, 74% blamed inflation, but with signs that it may have peaked, Schulz said investors could see this and other positive changes in the market as a reason to be more confident.

“We’ve seen signs that inflation may be slowing down a little bit ... so I think that certainly helps,” he said. “I also think that even something as simple as lower gas prices has a real effect on how people view the economy.”

The online survey was conducted in December by Qualtrics. It polled 2,050 people of varying age groups. The survey was designed so that it would not oversample particular age groups, LendingTree said.

The survey pointed to an overall lack of a financial plan on the part of many Americans. About 32% of the respondents said they are in a worse financial spot now than they were a year ago. In addition, about 45% said they failed to generally save money.

Americans had many regrets about their financial situation; 52% said one of their biggest regrets was that they spent too much money, 37% said they failed to stick to a budget, and 25% said they didn’t pay down their debt to their own satisfaction. 

Financial advisors can help those who are not satisfied with their financial position, Schulz said. Advisors can illustrate the importance of a strong financial plan and the benefit of savings.

“I think for advisors you could certainly remind people that the returns on savings are the highest they’ve been in many years, [and] there are certainly opportunities for people who have the wherewithal to put money away,” he said. “It’s good to be optimistic, but the truth is there’s a lot of times hoping for the best, but planning for the worst is the way to go.”

Even though last year might not have gone well for Americans, they are still optimistic about the coming year and they have set personal financial goals. Of those surveyed, 42% want to save more money, 32% want to increase their credit score, and 31% want to stop living paycheck to paycheck and create a budget and keep to it.

“People definitely want to do the right thing, and we’ve also certainly seen that the people are also interested in making up for how crummy the last few years were with the pandemic,” Schulz said.

Looking ahead, he said investors should pay close attention to their budgets. Inflation might have caused expenses to increase beyond what people originally budgeted for, so they need to stay on top of changes.

“Review your budget, because if you haven’t looked at it in the past … chances are a lot of the assumptions you made about expenses may have been blown out of the water by inflation,” Schulz said. “You may not have quite as much expendable income as you thought you did.”