The "Stick with It" Study

This is proprietary research conducted by Northwestern Mutual in 2011. Use of this information is intended for reference. Northwestern Mutual's recent proprietary research is available here.

Northwestern Mutual sponsored The “Stick with It” Study to gauge Americans’ goal setting, self-discipline and financial tenacity. (Conducted 2011)

Key findings from the study include the following:

• Three out of four Americans (74%) reported that the pace of today’s society is making it harder for them to focus and remain on track to achieve long-term goals.
• Gen Y is significantly more inclined to set goals in their lives than all other generations. And women tend to be more goal oriented then men.
• When asked which financial goals are the most important, a majority of respondents wanted to maintain their standard of living currently and into retirement.
• Although more than half of the nation feels they are self-disciplined in their financial life, nearly half think they would benefit from more self-discipline in this area.
• People as a nation are fairly confident in their ability to achieve goals they set and often set small interim goals along the way to ensure success.
• Gen Y is significantly more likely to celebrate and reward their accomplishments than all other generations.

For more information about the “Stick with It” study, download the full report or view the news release.