I'd say this is a pretty self-explanatory chart. More of the 1,500 or so people in the survey harbor significant worry about their finances than they do any other aspect of their lives: children, job, health, whatever. Consider your own personal experience, and the perceived attitudes and positions of your friends, coworkers, and family. Would you also say this is the case with them? As I consider the people around me, I believe that I would have to agree with the chart.
An interesting sidelight to this: Chatzky also refers to Juliet Schor's work in The Overspent American. Schor's research discovered that only forty percent of households making between $50k and $100k per year said that they could afford to buy what they need. Of households making more than $100k per year, only thirty percent said they could afford to buy what they need.
No wonder finances top our list of worries. Most of us who have the opportunity and/or capability to climb the income ladder have absolutely no idea how to handle the heights.
Labels: Statistics
