Survey Finds Middle Class Confident Despite Shaky Finances

A CUNA Mutual Group survey of middle class households found most are confident of their finances for now, but few believe they will have the means retire and most lack the financial facts to survive an economic upset.

The Madison, Wis., organization polled 1,258 adults in August making $35,000 to $99,000 per year. Nearly two thirds said they were somewhat or very confident about their personal financial situation now, and nearly half thought it was very unlikely they would miss a loan payment in the next one or two years.

“This cautious optimism, however, belies a more troubling financial picture,” according to a CUNA Mutual Group news release. More than half of respondents are ill-equipped for an emergency, with 23% saying they have no emergency savings and 30% saying they only have one to three months’ worth. Moreover, only 28% expect to retire with financial confidence.

“The middle class continues to experience stress from the long-term impacts of the 2008 recession,” said Steve Rick, chief economist at CUNA Mutual Group. “Markets may be rebounding and unemployment at historic lows, but we’re still seeing middle class families struggle with sticky wages, inadequate liquidity, high debt, insufficient savings and difficulty building wealth.”

While the responses were consistent for ethnicity and gender, the survey found Millennials were the most likely to find the American Dream to be a mirage. It found:

• 49% have put off buying a home, compared with 29% of the general population.
• 31% have put off higher education, compared with 17% overall.
• 23% have put off starting a family, compared with 9% overall.

Much like older responders, nearly two-thirds of Millennials said they felt very or somewhat confident about their current financial situation, while only 33% believed they will be able to retire comfortably and 62% have no more than three months of savings for an emergency.

Young or old, Rick said the survey reveals that the middle class is managing their finances in the near term at the expense of the long term.

“A vibrant middle class is essential to a healthy, functioning economy and nation,” Rick said. “No one can control the economic winds, but the financial industry can provide the resources the middle class needs to break out of the cycle of economic insecurity.”