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Personal Finances The number of people who feel they are well-off financially has fallen significantly during this long recession, and daily concerns about making ends meet have increased. Twenty-four percent of Orange County residents today describe their current standard of living as "not comfortable" or "struggling." Six in 10 say they are "comfortable," and 15 percent are "more than comfortable." Since the 1986 survey, there has been an 11-point drop in the number of residents describing their current standard of living as "more than comfortable" (26% to 15%), and an 11-point increase in the number who say they are not (13% to 24%). The proportion who are comfortable has stayed the same. Life is harder for those earning $50,000 or less, of whom 35 percent say their standard of living is not comfortable, compared with 11 percent of those earning more. Residents aged 18 to 34 (26%) and 35 to 54 (27%) are less comfortable than older residents (16%). People in the South County (18%) are feeling the squeeze less than elsewhere (27%). Twenty-six percent today say they "very often" worry about money, while 33 percent do so "fairly often." Forty-one percent say they seldom or never worry about money. Since the 1986 survey, the number who very often worry has grown by 12 points (14% to 26%), while the number who fairly often worry about money has increased 5 points (28% to 33%). The number of residents saying they do not often worry about money has dropped by 17 points (58% to 41%). Sixty-seven percent of those with incomes of $50,000 or less worry about money at least fairly often, compared with 49 percent of those with higher incomes. Most 18- to 34-year-olds (67%) and 35- to 54-year-olds (61%) worry about money very or fairly often, while most residents 55 and older (43%) do not. There are no significant differences in worries about money by region. Today, in describing their social class standing, 27 percent call themselves "upper" or "upper-middle" class, 55 percent call themselves "middle" class and 18 percent say they are "lower-middle" or "lower" class. Since 1986, there has been a 7-point drop in the number of residents describing themselves as upper or upper-middle class (34% to 27%), and a 6-point increase in those calling themselves members of the lower or lower-middle classes (12% to 18%). In Orange County, the mental dividing line between the classes is apparently $80,000. Of those earning less than this amount, a majority (60%) describe themselves as middle class. Of those earning more than $80,000, meanwhile, 69 percent describe themselves as upper or upper-middle class. A majority in all age groups describe themselves as middle class. Residents under 35 (23%) are more likely to say they are below middle class than are older residents (13%). South County residents are twice as likely as others to describe themselves as upper or upper-middle class (40% to 21%). As for satisfaction with their financial situation, two in three residents say they are satisfied, with 17 percent being "very" satisfied and 50 percent only "somewhat" satisfied. Thirty-three percent of residents are dissatisfied with their finances. Compared to the benchmark survey in 1982, the number who are dissatisfied with their personal financial situation has nearly doubled (18% to 33%), rising 6 points in the past year alone. The number who are very satisfied, meanwhile, has fallen 13 points from 30 percent in 1982, and declined 4 points since 1991. Forty-two percent of those with incomes of $50,000 or below are not satisfied with their personal finances, compared with 24 percent of those earning more. Dissatisfaction is higher among 35- to 54-year-olds (40%) than among either younger (33%) or older residents (24%). There are no differences by region. |
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