More than half (54%) of respondents said they plan to keep a greater amount of cash reserves in their banking accounts over the next 12 months, according to The Allianz Consumer Confidence Survey. Fifteen percent of survey respondents said they plan to invest more strongly in life insurance/annuities, and 17% plan to increase their investments in stocks.

When asked about their personal financial situation, almost half (46%) of respondents said they are very confident, according to a release of the results. However, almost the same percentage (43%) indicated they are very concerned about their financial situation. Respondents showed even more concern about their retirement savings situation (58%). In addition, 52% of those surveyed said they are very concerned about becoming ill or needing long-term care.

National Economic Outlook

The Allianz Consumer Confidence Survey found Americans are more optimistic about their personal financial future than they are about the economic direction of the country. Specifically, 73% of the respondents said they feel either rather bad or very bad about the overall situation in the U.S. in the next 12 months, 19% feel neither good nor bad about it, and only 17% feel either very good or rather good, according to Allianz.

Just 11% and 15% of respondents of the East North Central and West North Central regions, said they feel either very confident or rather confident, respectively, about the overall situation in the U.S. in the next 12 months. Twenty-two percent of the respondents from the Pacific region indicated the same.

When asked about the general economic situation, 83% of respondents said they are either very concerned or rather concerned. Eighty percent feel the same way about international financial markets, and 79% feel similarly about the security of jobs.

The study, conducted in October and November, was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 U.S. respondents aged 18 and older.