Close to a quarter of Australians have no financial back-up plan for dealing with a period of unemployment or time away from work. And a significant proportion are not saving.
Mortgage Choice commissioned CoreData to survey 1000 people about their financial wellbeing. Among the findings, almost a quarter said they did not know who or what they would rely on if they unexpectedly could not work or were unemployed for three months.
This lack of preparedness for adversity appears to come down to poor personal financial planning and budgeting. More than one in four (26.6 per cent) said they either did not save anything in a normal pay cycle or spent more than they earned.
Thirty per cent said they struggled to cover their personal debt comfortably, at least some of the time, and 33 per cent said they tended to hide the fact that they had personal debt.
Thirty per cent said they did not share their financial habits with their partner and only 43 per cent said their financial goals were "somewhat aligned" with the goals of their partner.
And 31 per cent said they did not classify their living expenses "in enough detail".
The biggest financial worry currently is the rising cost of living, with 39 per cent saying it is their greatest concern.