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Personal Finance
How do Orange County residents feel about their personal financial situation? Nearly one in four say they are very satisfied,
and another half say they are at least somewhat satisfied with their finances. In the September 2002 Statewide Survey, a
similar 25 percent of Californians were very satisfied and 50 percent were somewhat satisfied with their finances.
About four in ten Orange County residents indicate that they have enough income to save money or buy goods and services beyond bare necessities; half say they make just enough to make ends meet; and 13 percent say they do not make enough to meet their bills and obligations. These Orange County numbers are comparable to the California results in the September 2002 Statewide Survey. Residents’ perceptions that their incomes are more than sufficient to meet their needs increase sharply with income. For example, 13 percent of those with incomes below $40,000 say that they have extra income, compared to 65 percent of those with incomes of $80,000 or more. Whites are twice as likely as Latinos (44% to 22%) to say they have more than enough income to meet their needs, and South County residents are more likely than North County residents (45% to 34%) to say they have more than enough. The perception of financial comfort for Orange County residents increases with age and education.
More than half of Orange County residents (55%) worry about money at least fairly often. One in 10 say they never worry about money. These results are nearly identical to those of a decade ago, when we asked the question in the 1992 Orange County Annual Survey. Today, four in 10 county residents (39%) with household incomes of under $40,000 very often worry about money, compared to only 15 percent of those with household incomes of $80,000 or more. Latinos are more likely than whites (32% to 23%), women somewhat more likely than men (28% to 23%), and those under age 35 more likely than those age 55 and older (30% to 17%) to say they very often worry about money. Similarly, those with no college education are more likely than college graduates (34% to 20%), and renters are more likely than homeowners (35% to 20%), to say they worry a lot about money. People with children are also more likely than those without children (29% to 23%) to worry a lot about money. Reflecting the income differences across regions, North County residents are more likely than those in the South County to say they worry about money very often (28% to 21%).
Three in ten Orange County residents are either very concerned (14%) or somewhat concerned (16%) that they or someone in their family will lose their job in the next year. Similarly, 27 percent of Californians expressed at least some concern about job loss in the September 2002 Statewide Survey. In Orange County, Latinos (48%) are twice as likely as whites (23%) to express at least some concern about future unemployment. Concern about unemployment declines with income: 41 percent of those with incomes under $40,000 worry about a job loss, compared to 21 percent of those with incomes of $80,000 or more. The belief that the loss of a job might occur in the immediate family over the next year is higher among younger residents, those without any college education, renters, those with children in the home, and those who live in the North County.
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