Survey says
By TIMES WIRES
Published July 23, 2006
SURVEY SAYS
A LOOK AT BIZ TOPICS ON AMERICANS' MINDS
Half cutting back because of gas
Higher gas prices have caused financial hardship for half of all consumers, says an Experian-Gallup poll of 3,000 American adults. Where they have cut back:
* 65 percent on driving.* 57 percent on use of air conditioning or heating.* 57 percent on eating out.* 53 percent on vacation.* 49 percent on savings.* 31 percent on food and other necessities."If gas prices remain high or go even higher this summer, it is hard to see how we are going to avoid a recession later this year," said Dennis Jacobe, a Gallup Organization economist.
Gen X women don't save despite need
Even though Generation X women understand the importance of saving for the future, most are battling debt, according to an OppenheimerFunds survey of 215 female and 85 male investors between the ages of 26 and 39:
- More than two-thirds of female respondents said they live paycheck to paycheck.
- 40 percent carry a credit card balance of $5,000 or more.
- One in five owe more than $10,000 in credit card debt.
- 62 percent have not bought investment products.
- Six of 10 don't feel knowledgeable about investing.
- 65 percent said they don't understand how a mutual fund works.
"There is a tremendous opportunity for financial advisers to work with this demographic to develop a financial plan to promote good spending and saving habits," said Lauren Coulston of OppenheimeFunds.
Students carry credit cards, balances
More than half of college students have at least one credit card that is billed to them, says an American Council on Education analysis of 2003-2004 federal data, and about a quarter of those students have used their cards to pay tuition:
- More than four in 10 student cardholders carried a balance from month to month, with a median balance of $1,000.
- 55 percent of students who used their cards to pay tuition were carrying a balance, compared with 38 percent who had not charged tuition.
- 48 percent carried a balance by their fourth or fifth year in college.
- About 58 percent of students from families earning $80,000 or more carried a credit card, compared with 54 percent of students from families earning less than $40,000. But only a third of students from the richest families carried a credit card balance, compared with nearly half of students from the poorest families.
"If students are floating their credit card payments, that's troubling, because there are certainly less expensive forms of credit," said Jacqueline King, director of the ACE Center for Policy Analysis.