Are you done? How many more days? Tick tock, tick tock. A recent Rasmussen poll may give you comfort or a kick. The nationwide survey conducted November 29-30, 2011 gives us a snapshot of how well everyone is preparing for the holiday rush that culminates in less than a month.

 

 

Have You Started Your Holiday Gift Shopping Yet?

• Yes (47%)
• No (49%)
• Not Sure (3%)

Have you finished your holiday gift shopping yet?

• Yes (11%)
• No (86%)
• Not Sure (3%)

The survey reveals that 11% of people reported that they are finished with their holiday shopping…good for them. Now for the rest of us – the other 89% that say they are not finished.  Chances are you are among the 49% of Americans who report they have not even started or among the other 47%  who claim they have started but are still muddling through. Nevermind the 3% who say they are ‘not sure ’…

Which generation best handles their holiday shopping? Would you expect the younger or middle-aged holiday revelers likely to get the job done earlier than others? A breakdown by age shows negligible differences. Only 10% of younger buyers between the ages of 18-29 say they are finished with their shopping while those ages 40-49 and 50-64 respectively report 12% and 13% have cleared their lists. About 11% of holiday shoppers in their 30s and over age 65 years old say they are done.

There are differences between men and women…but not necessarily in ways some might expect. Yes, women are first to start. 56% of women compared to only 37% of men say they have begun their shopping. But, the finish line is remarkably gender neutral. Only about 10% of men and 12% of women said they were finished less than a month out. But 55% of women do say they tend to finish shopping early, compared to 50% of male laggards who say they tend to wait until the last minute.

Rasmussen gives a glimpse of behaviors for something in the next 20-30 days. How about expected consumer behaviors in the next 10-20-30 years? The Employee Benefit Research Institute in collaboration with Mathew Greenwald & Associates provides an interesting measure of retirement planning engagement – the percentage of workers having tried to calculate how much money they need to save for a comfortable retirement. Averaging data between 2007-2011 indicates that about 45% have tried to calculate their needs and are at least thinking about retirement. Certainly can’t say if these are the same folks who are still shopping for holiday gifts – but the proportion of people thinking about retirement is eerily similar to the proportion of us still scurrying from store to store.