Effects of the Economy

[pennypinch]

CnnMoney had a poll recently and the question was How has the economy effected you. 30,000 people answered and this is what some of them had to say.

37% of people who responded said that they eat out a lot less in order to save money. 19% said they have cut back on purchasing clothing. 15% said they have trimmed up on the entertainment. 11% said they have cut back on travel.

60% said they are cutting back on the amounts of gifts they normally purchase while 24% say they still buy the same amount but spend less on them.

67% say they are shopping much less than they used to. 26% say they always did use coupons and are still doing so while 38% are now clipping coupons even though they did not used to do so.

Cnn asked people how the economy has effected their long-term plans, here is what they said.
47% say they are not concerned about their long-term plans, they don't feel the need to make any changes. 23% say that their retirement plans have been effected and 12% of people are deeper in debt and will need to look for ways to get out of debt over time.

[carol b]

I have several friends who have retirement concerns now. They lost their jobs due to the sale of the company. They had to take the money out of their 401k's to pay bills.

It is now going to be difficult to put money back into those accounts. After years of planning and saving they are just scrapping by. I wonder if there isn't a way to help all of these people protect their futures.

[dollardaze]

I'm sure the results of these surveys are affected by the ages of the people who are taking the survey. It seems to me that people approaching retirement are very much concerned about their future, as costs seem to be going up while jobs are being lost, or work hours are being cut and benefits are going by the wayside as companies fight to survive.

It's a shame that so many are losing so much control over their financial future because of this economy. We've worked for companies for years and depended on our benefit packages to help us retire with dignity, only to find that this economy has ripped our financial security away.