2018 Halloween Spending & Financial Fears Survey

WalletHub conducted a nationally representative survey of over 500 Americans to see how much people are planning to spend on Halloween festivities as well as what aspects of personal finance frighten folks the most. You can find the results in the following infographic.

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Ask the Experts

For advice and insight, we asked a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the following key questions:

Roughly 30% of people say their finances are a horror show. Would you expect that figure to be higher/lower? And is this a bad sign for the economy moving forward?
More than 50% of people think credit cards are a trick, not a treat. What do you think is the bigger issue: credit cards being bad or people using them wrong?
2 in 3 people think the economy will get scarier in the next 12 months - do you agree?
Does it surprise you that more than 8% of people think a Halloween costume is worth going into debt for?

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Debbie Psihountas Ph.D. – Professor of Finance & Dean – School of Business and Technology, Florida Southwestern State College
Dena K. Wise Ph.D. – Professor/Family Economics Specialist, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Bradley A. Stevenson Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Finance, Bellarmine University
Laura Hendrix Ph.D. – Associate Professor Personal Finance and Consumer Economics, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Sterling Raskie Lecturer of Finance, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Gregg Dimkoff Ph.D. C.F.P., C.L.U. - Finance Professor, Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University

More Experts

Full Details Overall

Which are you more afraid of?
Racking up credit card debt	51%
Snakes	49%
Is a Halloween costume worth going into debt for?
No	92%
Yes	8%
Do you think interest rates will get scarier in 2019?
Yes	71%
No	29%
What is the scariest thing about credit cards?
Interest rates & fees	35%
Fraud	27%
Overspending	20%
Hidden terms	9%
Losing them	8%
Which are you more scared of?
Not having your credit card with you	74%
Having your credit card with you	26%
Which scares you more?
Data breaches	70%
Spiders	30%
In general, are you scared you use your credit card too much?
No	60%
Yes	40%
How much do you plan to spend on Halloween-related purchases this year? - Intervals
Will spend $50 or less	76%
Will spend more than $50	24%
What will you spend the most on this Halloween?
Candy	50%
Food and alcohol	23%
Costumes	14%
Decorations	9%
Party tickets	4%
What’s the scariest thing about Halloween?
Strangers Ringing Doorbell	42%
Spending Money	27%
Movies	23%
Costumes	8%
What is your biggest financial fear?
Unplanned emergency	23%
Not enough retirement savings	22%
Fraud	20%
Job loss	19%
Loss of health insurance	10%
Poor credit	7%
What scares you or stresses you out most?
Money	29%
Politics	25%
Health	17%
Terrorism	12%
Economy	9%
Work	8%
Would you say your finances are a horror show?
No	70%
Yes	30%
Do you think the economy will get scarier in the next 12 months?
Yes	65%
No	35%
Are credit cards a trick or a treat?
Trick	54%
Treat	46%

Full Details - By Age

Which are you more afraid of?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Racking up credit card debt	67%	48%	46%	45%
Snakes	33%	52%	54%	55%
Is a Halloween costume worth going into debt for?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
No	85%	85%	97%	98%
Yes	15%	15%	3%	2%
Do you think interest rates will get scarier in 2019?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Yes	76%	76%	75%	57%
No	24%	24%	25%	43%
What is the scariest thing about credit cards?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Interest rates & fees	33%	39%	44%	26%
Fraud	18%	19%	27%	42%
Overspending	23%	25%	21%	13%
Hidden terms	19%	11%	5%	3%
Losing them	7%	6%	3%	16%
Which are you more scared of?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Not having your credit card with you	71%	68%	76%	81%
Having your credit card with you	29%	32%	24%	19%
Which scares you more?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Data breaches	58%	64%	70%	86%
Spiders	42%	36%	30%	14%
In general, are you scared you use your credit card too much?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
No	59%	43%	59%	80%
Yes	41%	57%	41%	20%
How much do you plan to spend on Halloween-related purchases this year? - Intervals
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Will spend $50 or less	71%	58%	82%	93%
Will spend more than $50	29%	42%	18%	7%
What will you spend the most on this Halloween?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Candy	32%	33%	63%	68%
Food and alcohol	29%	25%	21%	18%
Costumes	18%	28%	9%	2%
Decorations	14%	9%	6%	9%
Party tickets	7%	5%	1%	3%
What’s the scariest thing about Halloween?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Strangers Ringing Doorbell	39%	41%	38%	50%
Spending Money	31%	35%	27%	17%
Movies	23%	15%	28%	25%
Costumes	7%	9%	7%	8%
What is your biggest financial fear?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Unplanned emergency	28%	22%	19%	25%
Not enough retirement savings	15%	22%	32%	19%
Fraud	13%	15%	12%	38%
Job loss	22%	25%	27%	1%
Loss of health insurance	8%	6%	7%	16%
Poor credit	14%	10%	3%	1%
What scares you or stresses you out most?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Money	40%	29%	34%	14%
Politics	16%	13%	19%	51%
Health	10%	19%	17%	22%
Terrorism	8%	21%	11%	7%
Economy	13%	9%	10%	6%
Work	13%	8%	10%	0%
Would you say your finances are a horror show?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
No	70%	60%	67%	84%
Yes	30%	40%	33%	16%
Do you think the economy will get scarier in the next 12 months?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Yes	71%	66%	68%	56%
No	29%	34%	32%	44%
Are credit cards a trick or a treat?
Age	18 - 29	30 - 44	45 - 59	59+
Trick	61%	59%	60%	36%
Treat	39%	41%	40%	64%

Full Details - By Gender

Which are you more afraid of?
	Female	Male
Racking up credit card debt	51%	50%
Snakes	49%	50%
Is a Halloween costume worth going into debt for?
	Female	Male
No	94%	89%
Yes	6%	11%
Do you think interest rates will get scarier in 2019?
	Female	Male
Yes	76%	65%
No	24%	35%
What is the scariest thing about credit cards?
	Female	Male
Interest rates & fees	36%	35%
Fraud	23%	31%
Overspending	22%	19%
Hidden terms	10%	8%
Losing them	9%	7%
Which are you more scared of?
	Female	Male
Not having your credit card with you	73%	75%
Having your credit card with you	27%	25%
Which scares you more?
	Female	Male
Data breaches	66%	74%
Spiders	34%	26%
In general, are you scared you use your credit card too much?
	Female	Male
No	58%	63%
Yes	42%	37%
How much do you plan to spend on Halloween-related purchases this year? - Intervals
	Female	Male
Will spend $50 or less	79%	74%
Will spend more than $50	21%	26%
What will you spend the most on this Halloween?
	Female	Male
Candy	49%	51%
Food and alcohol	21%	25%
Costumes	18%	10%
Decorations	10%	8%
Party tickets	2%	6%
What’s the scariest thing about Halloween?
	Female	Male
Strangers Ringing Doorbell	40%	44%
Spending Money	26%	29%
Movies	28%	18%
Costumes	6%	9%
What is your biggest financial fear?
	Female	Male
Unplanned emergency	23%	23%
Not enough retirement savings	22%	22%
Fraud	19%	21%
Job loss	16%	22%
Loss of health insurance	11%	7%
Poor credit	9%	5%
What scares you or stresses you out most?
	Female	Male
Money	31%	27%
Politics	25%	26%
Health	16%	18%
Terrorism	11%	12%
Economy	10%	9%
Work	7%	8%
Would you say your finances are a horror show?
	Female	Male
No	70%	70%
Yes	30%	30%
Do you think the economy will get scarier in the next 12 months?
	Female	Male
Yes	70%	60%
No	30%	40%
Are credit cards a trick or a treat?
	Female	Male
Trick	54%	54%
Treat	46%	46%

Full Details - By Income

Which are you more afraid of?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Snakes	58%	48%	48%
Racking up credit card debt	42%	52%	52%
Is a Halloween costume worth going into debt for?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
No	96%	81%	95%
Yes	4%	19%	5%
Do you think interest rates will get scarier in 2019?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Yes	64%	76%	71%
No	36%	24%	29%
What is the scariest thing about credit cards?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Interest rates & fees	29%	41%	37%
Fraud	37%	20%	28%
Overspending	21%	19%	18%
Hidden terms	6%	14%	6%
Losing them	7%	6%	11%
Which are you more scared of?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Not having your credit card with you	80%	64%	72%
Having your credit card with you	20%	36%	28%
Which scares you more?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Data breaches	78%	55%	78%
Spiders	22%	45%	22%
In general, are you scared you use your credit card too much?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
No	69%	63%	55%
Yes	31%	37%	45%
How much do you plan to spend on Halloween-related purchases this year? - Intervals
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Will spend $50 or less	71%	77%	79%
Will spend more than $50	29%	23%	21%
What will you spend the most on this Halloween?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Candy	50%	40%	59%
Food and alcohol	24%	25%	24%
Costumes	12%	18%	12%
Decorations	12%	8%	4%
Party tickets	2%	9%	1%
What’s the scariest thing about Halloween?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Strangers Ringing Doorbell	43%	48%	41%
Spending Money	23%	22%	33%
Movies	23%	22%	19%
Costumes	11%	8%	7%
What is your biggest financial fear?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Not enough retirement savings	36%	15%	26%
Unplanned emergency	18%	29%	19%
Job loss	20%	14%	22%
Fraud	18%	15%	21%
Loss of health insurance	6%	11%	7%
Poor credit	2%	16%	5%
What scares you or stresses you out most?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Money	26%	40%	22%
Politics	35%	14%	31%
Health	16%	16%	18%
Terrorism	10%	9%	15%
Economy	7%	10%	8%
Work	6%	11%	6%
Would you say your finances are a horror show?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
No	78%	54%	76%
Yes	22%	46%	24%
Do you think the economy will get scarier in the next 12 months?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Yes	68%	63%	60%
No	32%	37%	40%
Are credit cards a trick or a treat?
	High Income	Low Income	Medium Income
Trick	49%	54%	52%
Treat	51%	46%	48%

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