Americans Feel Better About Their Financial Situation

According to the COUNTRY Financial Security Index, Americans are feeling more confident about the individual financial situation. Confidence in personal finances has jumped as people feel better about their ability to save money and also pay off debts.Here are some of the key findings from the security index:

• Those able to set aside money for savings or investments rose to 55 percent in June, up four points from April.  While the number of men saying they were able to put money away spiked eight points to 60 percent, the number of women able to do so remained flat at 51 percent.
• There was a four point increase to 64 percent in those confident they could save for a secure retirement.
• Eight-in-ten are confident in their ability to pay their debts as they come due, a two-point increase from April and the most to say this since December 2007.  Younger Americans showed the largest gain in optimism, with 70 percent of 18 to 29 year olds confident compared to just 65 percent in April.

I tend to think that this is a result of the economic stimulus payments that have been going out. For many people, those economic stimulus payments add a little more money to the budget, providing some breathing room. What will be interesting to see is whether or not the story remains the same when the economic stimulus money has been spent and household budgets are back to normal.