These are the resolutions for Spaniards for 2020

When entering a new year, we often try and set new goals and challenges to complete over the course of the next 12 months. It’s best to start motivated as–usually–experience shows that as humans we tend to give up on our goals about midway through the year. However, there’s something special about 2020–it’s not only a new year but a new decade, and in addition to the classic resolutions that we later abandon (often with the same conviction with which we added them to our day-to-day), the longer commitment encourages us to set less realistic goals. We could give you a list of tips on how to set more realistic goals, how to keep motivated or how to not get frustrated when things don’t go quite as well as expected. But we know that you’ve a handle on things, and preaching isn’t really our style. So we’ve given a twist to this tired topic, offering you a general overview of the most common resolutions for Spaniards in 2020. In other words, we’ve gone to the streets to find out what people expect from themselves for the new year and we invite you to draw your own conclusions.

The people have spoken, and no, there’s no major surprises. The most common resolution we fail year after year is still saving, and what’s even more shocking is that a quarter of the population claim to not have any specific financial goals! It’s like joining up a gym to lose weight neither knowing what exercises to do nor how much the membership actually costs. Simply saying “I want to save money” doesn’t necessarily make it happen, similarly, joining a gym doesn’t make you lose weight. What has changed in recent years however is the reason for saving: according to our survey, the main reason for Spaniards to save in 2020 is for traveling. This statistic comes from 26% of men and 37% of women in our survey. For more than a third of the population under the age of 35, and 30% of baby boomers, going on an exciting and memorable trip is their main priority this year.

After traveling, the second most popular savings goal is buying a car. 16% of the people who answered our survey have this in mind when saving. For 11% of the population, their goal is saving for an apartment, an issue that is ever-present for almost everyone in the entire country due to price increases. This is pretty damning evidence of the current housing situation that the country is currently going through. With unreasonable purchase prices and absurdly high rents following the same trend because of gentrification, not only in Spain but throughout Europe, the situation is becoming more complex year by year, especially among younger generations. It seems the only options available for young people are to either live in shared apartments or remain in their parents’ homes. Another insight from our survey is that more than 25% of the population has confessed to having spent too much on unnecessary, wasteful things during 2019. By their own admission, 32% of the people we surveyed who were living with their parents revealed that they misused their money last year.

This survey has also revealed that stress and mental health is one of the major concerns for 32% of women and 23% of men. However, respondents didn’t seem to relate these high levels of stress to the management of their personal finances. This lack of association is startling especially because financial wellness is now more popular than ever. This term refers to the effectiveness of our financial health in tandem with the well-being (or detriment) its management has on us. This is not something that can be measured in isolation; money and our way of managing it has a large impact on our stress levels and emotional wellbeing.

Not only are short-term issues stressful, such as knowing if you’ll be able to pay the rent or mortgage after splurging on Christmas gifts for vacations, but also more long-term issues that accumulate and increase our anxiety. A good example of this is the growing concern about whether the current working generation will receive the same retirement pension when the moment arrives. The uncertainty of the future is the lack of financial security we feel knowing that we could easily drift into a situation of social exclusion or poverty overnight. This is one of the biggest triggers of stress in Spanish society, especially with the wealth gap between the aging society and the active population growing year by year.

Luckily in Spain we’ve other ideas for 2020, and they’ve nothing to do with money, at least not directly. In fact, succeeding purely from an economic standpoint is not a priority for most Spaniards. The winning resolution for 46% of women and 41% of men is a healthier lifestyle. The second leading is resolution is spending more time with family and friends, as expressed by 38% of men versus 33% of women. In general, it’s estimated that only 8% of the population fulfils their resolutions throughout the year, the majority quit after just one week.

Here’s a list of the most common resolutions:

• Have time for oneself
• Do more sports
• Give up smoking
• Travel more
• Learn something new
• Eat healthier
• Cook more
• Save and reduce debts
• Live with less stress
• Spend more time with family
• Cut toxic relationships
• Drink less alcohol

Save smarter with Spaces

Now that you know your neighbors’ goals for 2020, it may be easier for you to define yours, and focus on how to achieve them. Here at N26, we want to encourage you to save money and end the year with the satisfaction of having achieved your goals. Although we cannot help you to grow your savings, you can manage them better with Spaces; a feature that allows you to create separate sub-accounts from your main account. Here you can separate your money based on your various goals. With Spaces you can view your finances in a more orderly way, which translates into better planning and spending. Try it out and see how Spaces can work for you.