Study: Lack of money forces us to give up on personal goals

Lack of financial resources and economic uncertainty are causing many Romanians to postpone important decisions, such as purchasing a home, starting a business, continuing their studies or changing their lifestyle. One third of those who have not yet taken concrete steps toward achieving their personal goals have been in this situation for at least three years, according to a survey conducted by Reveal Marketing Research for XTB Romania.

The main obstacle to achieving these plans is a lack of money, cited by 43% of survey participants. Nearly one third of respondents say they must prioritize other expenses and responsibilities, while 30% prefer to postpone important decisions because of economic uncertainty.

The survey data indicate a significant gap between Romanians' aspirations and the concrete measures taken to achieve them. Only approximately 20% of respondents have already begun implementing their plans or are actively working toward achieving their proposed goals.

"For me, the concrete figure is that more than 7 in 10 Romanians have not taken concrete steps toward achieving their goal. In other words, we want something, but we have not yet started doing anything about it,” said Claudiu Cazacu, strategy consultant at XTB Romania.

Ensuring family stability and security is the main concern for 45% of Romanians surveyed. Next come travel and important personal experiences, mentioned by 41% of respondents, and renovating or improving living conditions, at 40%.

"Broadly speaking, the most important thing for Romanians is to ensure the security of their family's future, not just the present. We are living in increasingly interesting times, so it is natural that what we want is security. We need a refuge,” explained Claudiu Cazacu.

At the same time, the study highlights Romanians' concern for the balance between professional and personal life. Thus, 34% of participants would like to reduce the time dedicated to work in favor of free time, while 31% intend to start a business or develop a personal project. More than a quarter of respondents include purchasing a home among their goals.

Priorities differ, however, depending on age. In the 25-34 age category, 37% of respondents are interested in continuing their studies or acquiring new skills, while 30% are considering moving to another city or another country.

By contrast, interest in entrepreneurship is higher among people over the age of 35. Approximately 38% of respondents in the 35-44 age category and 42% of those aged 45-55 say they want to develop their own business or a personal project. Across the entire sample, only 1% of participants say they have no personal goals.

"In addition to this, according to the survey, experiences and travel, as well as home renovations, are very important to Romanians. For young people, specifically for 37% of respondents in the 25-34 age category, it is very important to continue their studies, have new experiences or move to another country. However, regardless of which country you are in, it is important to invest,” added Claudiu Cazacu.

For her part, Irina Cristescu, General Manager of XTB Romania, believes that difficulties in achieving personal goals are not determined exclusively by income levels.

"Romanians know what they want, but very many remain in the waiting stage for years. Beyond income levels, we are also talking about predictability, confidence and the ability to build a long-term plan. I believe that one of the most important financial challenges of the moment is to reduce the distance between "I would like to' and "I have started',” said Irina Cristescu.

• Only 29% of Romanians Speak Openly About Their Future Plans

Although most Romanians have long-term personal goals, few choose to discuss them openly. According to the survey, only 29% of respondents speak without reservations about their plans and aspirations, while 46% prefer to share them with only a few close people. Another 12% rarely discuss what they want to achieve, 8% almost never do, and 5% do not talk to anyone about their own goals.

This reluctance is primarily explained by the personal nature of these aspirations, a reason cited by 44% of respondents. At the same time, 35% prefer not to reveal their intentions before having a concrete plan, while 23% avoid these discussions because they are unsure whether they have the necessary financial resources.

Another 22% choose to talk about their goals only when they begin to materialize, while 20% admit that they fear possible failure.

"As far as communication is concerned, only 29% of Romanians speak openly about their plans. 44% of people do not talk about their ideas until they have a concrete plan. These things are connected to the fact that when you talk about something that is not clearly defined, it is not something specific, and people make a choice that suits their personal profile. Some prefer to work in silence or not communicate. However, there are also people who do not communicate because they consider that their plans are still at the idea stage,” explained Claudiu Cazacu.

Financial difficulties are also reflected in saving behavior. According to the survey, only 18% of Romanians regularly allocate money to savings or investments intended to achieve personal goals. A quarter of respondents save only occasionally, when their financial situation allows, while 24% say they currently lack the resources to put money aside.

The differences between women and men are significant. Approximately 29% of women participating in the survey say they cannot afford to save for personal plans, compared with 18% of men.

At the same time, the proportion of those who consistently save or invest is 21% among men and 16% among women.

• Young People Are More Optimistic, but Many Do Not Know Where to Start

Despite financial difficulties, nearly half of respondents believe they will manage to make progress toward achieving their personal goals over the next 12 months. The highest level of optimism is recorded among people aged between 25 and 34.

Among the 18-24 age group, lack of experience and information represent additional obstacles. One in five young people in this category say they do not know what measures they should take to begin fulfilling their plans.

Furthermore, 36% of respondents aged between 18 and 24 anticipate that, a decade from now, they might regret not having started investing earlier. This is also the most frequently anticipated category of financial regret across the entire sample.

Representatives say that XTB data regarding the use of Investment Plans indicate growing interest among Romanians in investment instruments. Since the product's launch in 2023, tens of thousands of users in Romania have funded such a plan at least once, and their number has doubled within a year.

"Starting in 2023, when the XTB "Investment Plans' product was implemented, if we are talking about a nominal figure, we can say that tens of thousands of Romanians have invested in these investment plans because they considered them a good start on their journey into the world of investments and, at the same time, an opportunity to create a much better structured and diversified portfolio,” said Radu Puiu, financial analyst at XTB Romania.

According to the company, approximately 80% of people who started using the product still have an active plan. Two thirds of users are aged between 25 and 44.

"From this point of view, we can say that 80% of those who started an investment plan still have it active even today, and this shows that the first step tends to be the hardest, namely the moment when we begin pursuing our goals and plans that we intend to put into practice,” explained Radu Puiu.

The financial analyst also highlighted the rate of growth in the number of users, against a backdrop of interest in investments and access to financial information.

"One in two current users joined in the last two months, which shows that, as people have become more informed and more educated about the world of investments, they have adopted this new product,” he added.

According to Radu Puiu, the product's features, including the possibility of automating contributions, can simplify the investment process.

"Investment plans change the dynamics because they offer a better structured and easier way to invest, considering the automation and other features they provide. The product was launched in Romania in 2023, so we have a three-year time horizon that we have analyzed,” the financial analyst specified.

• Two in Ten Investors Start With Less Than 25 Euros

The value of the initial investment varies considerably. Approximately 20% of users start with amounts of less than 25 euros, while 16% allocate more than 500 euros from the outset. Subsequently, one third of those who continue investing end up contributing larger amounts than those initially deposited.

Radu Puiu believes that one of the main difficulties encountered by people who want to start investing is the perception that they would need substantial initial capital.

"When we talk about the first step in investing, we automatically think about the amount with which we can start these investments. This is one of the aspects that creates many obstacles in making the decision to embark on this path, because people always think that perhaps the amount they have available is not sufficient, or they wonder what they could do with such a small amount or what an acceptable threshold for investments would be. These questions create a psychological barrier,” he explained.

Data on initial investments show that most users choose to start with amounts of no more than 500 euros.

"However, if we look at the results of investors who have accessed "Investment Plans', we see that two in ten started investing with less than 25 euros, which represents a considerably smaller amount than we might imagine at first glance when thinking about investments. Also, only 16% started investing with more than 500 euros. This shows us that more than 64% of investors started with an amount between 25 and 500 euros,” stated Radu Puiu.

"If we look at the amounts generally involved in the world of investments, these could be considered quite small, which means that it is more important to start somewhere, regardless of the amount, and to have a plan,” added the financial analyst.

Regarding preferred financial instruments, the most popular are exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide exposure to major American companies and international markets. These are followed by ETFs focused on technology and artificial intelligence, European markets and gold.