Staying Power

According to the latest research from the American Affluence Research Center, some pessimism has is being recorded among "luxury consumers." It appears that the wealthiest U.S. households have cut their spending plans, lowered their expectations for personal income and have a less than positive outlook for an improved economy. The Center also reported that the numbers are at their lowest point since it began this twice-yearly survey of wealthy consumers in 2002.
What’s the new strategy? It really is a shift in changing their primary financial objective -- from capital appreciation and growth to preservation of assets.
The study reports that: “Multiple reasons, more than four on average, were given for cutting expenditures, with the top being "uncertain when the economy will recover" (80%), followed closely by "decline in the value of our investments/savings." Both were mentioned twice as much as in 2008, when "possibility of a recession" was cited by more than 50%.
Nevertheless, those in the higher income bracket that have assets that the study calls “investable” are not reducing spending and are much more optimistic about the future of the economy. In addition, the “over-50 group” is also more optimistic, although efforts to reduce expenditures in the past year and plans to so over the next year were found to be consistent across all demographics.