The financial goals — and worries — of affluent consumers: It turns out they’re more similar than different from the broader population.

But gender differences do exist …

In this year’s U.S. presidential election campaign, there’s been a good deal of attention paid to so-called “working class” voters. No doubt, this is a segment of the electorate that’s especially unhappy with the current state of affairs in the country.

But what about other population groups?

As it turns out, affluent Americans are worried about many of the same things as well. A recent survey of affluent Americans conducted by the Shullman Research firm reveals that their worries are fundamentally similar to other Americans.

Here’s what survey respondents revealed as their to worries:

Your own health: ~36% of respondents cited as a top worry
Your family’s health: ~31% cited
Having enough money saved to retire comfortably: ~30%
The economy going into recession: ~28%
Terrorism: ~27%
Inflation: ~23%
The price of gasoline: ~22%
Being out of work and finding a good job: ~20%
Political issues / warfare around the world: ~15%
Taking care of elderly parents: ~15%

[One mild surprise for me was seeing how many respondents cited “the price of gasoline” as a source of worry, considering not only the recent easing of those prices as well as the affluence level of the survey sample.]

Generally speaking, the research found few gender differences in these responses, but with a few exceptions.

Men were more likely to cite “inflation” as a concern (28% for men vs. 18% for women), whereas women were more likely to consider “the economy going into recession” as a concern (30% for women vs. 26% for men).

Where there’s more divergence between genders is in how people’s identify their top financial goals. Here’s how the various goals tested by the Shullman research ranked overall:

Having enough money for daily living expenses: ~57% citied as a top financial goal
Having enough money for unexpected emergency expenses: ~56%
Having enough income for retirement: ~46%
Reducing my debt: ~41%
Improving my standard of living: ~40%
Remaining financially independent: ~39%
Becoming financially independent: ~33%
Keeping up with inflation: ~30%
Providing protection for family members if I die: ~29%
Purchasing a home: ~19%
Providing for my children’s college expenses: ~19%
Providing an estate for my spouse and/or children: ~16%

Obviously, some of the goals that rank further down the list are more applicable to certain people at certain stages in their lives — whether they’re just getting started in their career, raising young children and so forth.

But I was struck at how many of these supposed “affluent” respondents cited “having enough money for daily living expenses” as a top financial goal. Wouldn’t more people have already achieved that milestone?

Another interesting finding: With many of the goals, women place more importance on them than do men:

63% of women versus just 50% of men consider “having enough money for daily living expenses” to be a top financial goal.
63% of women versus just 47% of men consider “having enough money for unexpected emergency expenses” a top financial goal.
48% of women versus just 33% of men consider “reducing debt” a top financial goal.
45% of women versus just 34% of men consider “improving their standard of living” a top financial goal.
36% of women versus 30% of men consider “becoming financially independent” a top financial goal.

One explanation for the differences observed between men and women may be the “baseline” from which each group is weighing their financial goals. But since the survey was limited to affluent consumers, one might have expected that the usual demographic characteristics wouldn’t apply. Perhaps the differences are rooted in other, more fundamental characteristics.