Annual AICPA/Harris interactive survey results released.

PositionSurvey

In an effort to understand how the current economic slowdown has impacted behaviors and attitudes among the general public, the AICPA participated in Harris Interactive's Mar. 2009 National Quorum telephone survey. The interviewing took place from March 4 to 8. The National Quorum is a bi-monthly survey among 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older.

In our 2008 study, the findings clearly indicated a distinct concern about the state of the U.S. economy. As expected, the 2009 findings portray a much more severe level of concern about the U.S. economy at a national and individual level. As evidenced from our findings in 2008, 2007 and 2006, concerns about the economy have been developing over the past several years. However, in past years, the AICPA's findings showed pockets of economic concern, but the 2009 findings show that concerns about the economy are nearly universal.

While Americans continue to have a variety of financial concerns, there have been some rather substantial changes over the past year. In our 2008 survey, more than one-quarter (27%) cited energy issues, including the price of gas (15%) and rising energy and home heating costs (12%). Today, only 7% cite energy concerns (down 74%). Only two percent select the price of gas (down from 15% in 2008) and only 5% select rising energy and home heating costs (down from 12% in 2008).

This year, primary financial concerns include: education for either their children (10%, 11% last year) or paying student loans for themselves or their spouse (6% paying off student loans, 9% last year), retirement (13%, unchanged from last year), losing their job (11%, up from 4% last year), mortgage payments (8%, 6% last year), lack of savings for financial emergencies (9%, up from 5% last year), and uninsured medical expenses (8% percent, 6% last year).

The result of financial concerns is that some may be delaying significant decisions. From a pre-defined list, 42% of Americans indicate they are delaying one or more of the following decisions for financial reasons: buying a home (18%), a medical procedure (16%), higher education (16%), retirement (14%), children (7%) or marriage (4%). The percentage of Americans who say they have not delayed a decision for financial reasons has dropped from 69% in 2007...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT