It’s easy to assume “financial insecurity” only means being unable to pay basic bills. In surveys, it’s often broader: a felt sense that your finances aren’t stable, predictable, or resilient to shocks.
Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning & Progress Study reports that feelings of financial insecurity hit a record high, at just over half of U.S. adults. In the same release, 33% say they do not feel financially secure—a more specific measure that helps explain what that broader “insecurity” number can include.
This is self-reported survey data, so it captures perception (how people feel about their situation), not a clinical or administrative measure of hardship. But perception still matters: it tends to track stress, decision-making under uncertainty, and how people interpret future risks.
