Rich Feel Better About Economy

By Staff Writer

July 28, 2004 at 08:00 PM

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Rich Feel Better About Economy

Rich U.S. residents are feeling better about the American economy.

McDonald Financial Group, Cleveland, has published data to support that conclusion in a report on a survey conducted by researchers at Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, New York.

In late June and early July, researchers interviewed 400 U.S. residents who had at least $500,000 in investable assets or annual incomes of at least $150,000. McDonalds July confidence index for affluent consumers is 61 out of 100, up from an index of 44 recorded in July 2003.

The index is set up so scores over 50 indicate optimism and scores under 50 indicate pessimism.

When the latest survey was conducted, 72% of the participants said the economy is moving in the right direction, up from 58% a year earlier.

But 56% of the participants said there is a real estate bubble, up from 32% in July 2003.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, July 29, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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