New Year's money resolutions

Financial resolutions in 2010 will – as always – be one or a combination of the following: save more, spend less.

What’s different this year is that more Americans are hoping to regain a commitment to the market and rebuild their confidence levels after last year’s economic and market slowdown.

Many of us went to the sidelines last year as the stock market plummeted. Now a majority of us hope we’ll find our bearings in 2010 and recommit to investing and achieving our financial goals.

In fact, more than 70% of individuals hope to increase their confidence level in their finances with their resolutions based on a recent survey by Fidelity.

The survey of 1,000 Americans also found “saving more” ranked slightly higher as a goal, with thirty-six percent listing it as their first priority, compared with 34 percent each for “lose weight” and “exercise more.”

Notably, the Fidelity survey found that 60 percent of those who’d made financial resolutions last year stuck with them. That’s more than the 51 percent who’d stuck with other types of resolutions.

Stay tuned for my segment tomorrow morning on NBC’s TODAY show where I’ll be discussing the top financial resolutions for 2010 and more importantly, the effective habits for sticking to them!