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Talk of the bay

Tampa Bay area ranks low in brokerage's 'Nest Egg Index'

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published December 19, 2005

Tampa Bay area residents are laggards when it comes to building and nurturing their nest eggs - at least that's what A.G. Edwards & Sons says. The St. Louis brokerage ranks the bay area 173rd among 318 U.S. metro areas on its "Nest Egg Index."

The index is based on 12 statistical factors that affect personal savings habits, including household income, homeownership, employment rate, net worth, participation in pension and 401(k) plans, home values and debts.

There's plenty of room for improvement throughout the country, with high debt levels and low savings rates hampering the ability of Americans to prepare for retirement. But some areas definitely are ahead of the pack, according to A.G. Edwards. San Jose, Calif., topped the list, followed by Nassua-Suffolk, N.Y.; Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, N.J.; and San Francisco.

Naples led the Florida list, coming in No. 18 in the national ranking. Other cities that beat out the Tampa Bay area included Sarasota-Bradenton, Fort Myers-Cape Coral and even Jacksonville and Orlando (by a hair).

There isn't much for Tampa Bay area residents to brag about, but the bay area did have a better showing than Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 20:24:02]