Politics Beats Inflation, Recession as Americans' Top Concern: Survey

U.S. consumers think that the economy looks good but are scared anyway, according to new survey data from Northwestern Mutual.

When the survey participants were asked to rank seven factors that could hurt their finances this year, 67% put “government dysfunction” or “the U.S. presidential election” in the top two slots, and 57% put inflation there. “A potential recession” came in third, appearing in the top two slots in 24% of the responses.

“People are just fed up with the dysfunction,” Christian Mitchell, Northwestern Mutual’s chief customer officer, said earlier this month at a briefing in New York.

What it means: The fall elections could affect on how clients think about their saving, investment and insurance arrangements.

Northwestern Mutual: Northwestern Mutual is a policyholder-owned, Milwaukee-based mutual life insurer. It manages $627 billion in assets for its insurance operations and its clients.

The survey: Northwestern Mutual has been conducting the surveys in its current series since 2012. The company uses the results to help its executives and advisors understand market trends.

The company also posts morsels from the survey throughout the year to get members of the public thinking about the need to plan for the future.

The new survey results come from an online survey of 4,588 U.S. adults ages 18 and older that was fielded in January.