Americans’ priorities have shifted in many ways during the COVID-19 pandemic, but maintaining a long-term view with investments has held up, according to new survey results.
Findings from Voya Financial’s consumer survey reveal that a strong majority of individuals continue to believe that “staying the course” (83%) with their investments during a volatile market and having a long-term view (78%) is “important or extremely important.”
The COVID-19 pandemic also continues to influence the majority (89%) of Americans’ daily decisions, including who they see, where they go and what they do—with few individuals (31%) expecting a “return to normal” during the fall or even later this year.
Voya also found that more than half (58%) of individuals are more likely to save money for a possible emergency and spend less on nonessential items (56%).
The findings appear to support previous survey results conducted by Voya in 2019, which showed that Americans are increasingly looking to their employers for help with health and financial wellness needs. Those results revealed that half 50% of employees believe emergency fund assistance to be an important benefit in the workplace—with HSAs (54%), supplemental life and disability insurance (65%) and critical illness insurance (60%) also ranking as important.
“We believe that this expectation of employers will only increase as a result of COVID-19, with many individuals focusing on the need for greater wealth and health support in the workplace as they seek to return to the ‘new normal,’” says Charlie Nelson, CEO of Retirement and Employee Benefits at Voya Financial. “In fact, our most recent survey found that, as a result of the pandemic, individuals are now more likely (19%) to contact their employer-sponsored retirement plan provider, which is up significantly from 12% in March.”
Nelson suggests that, as many employers are preparing plans for returning to their offices, it will be “equally important to consider employees’ health and financial needs in this new normal,” which could include educating employees on the need for having emergency savings, providing help on student loan debt or seeing how voluntary, supplemental health benefits can help address medical and other expenses.
Voya’s survey was conducted through the Ipsos eNation omnibus online platform among 1,005 adults aged 18 or over in the U.S. Research was conducted in two waves: March 25-26, 2020, and April 22-23, 2020.
