More Americans are optimistic about their financial future today than they were in 2011, according to the 2015 findings of Lincoln Financial Group's "Measuring Optimism, Outlook and Direction" (M.O.O.D.) of America survey.
In an interview Friday, Kristen Phillips, head of marketing and strategy of insurance and retirement solutions at Lincoln, said Americans' financial optimism has steadily improved over the last four years in which the MOOD survey was conducted.
"We started doing this survey in 2011, which was on the heels of the end of the financial crisis and a very difficult time in America," Phillips told ThinkAdvisor. "That was a good time to start the survey, it was a good baseline for us. And we've seen slow and steady improvement in optimism and [Americans'] feeling like their financial picture is going to be better a year from now than it is today."
According to this year's findings, 81% of those surveyed said they feel optimistic about their financial future – up 13% since 2011.
Americans also feel their lives are headed in the right direction: 83% this year, which is a significant increase from the 66% who felt that way in 2011. Moreover, 59% report they are optimistic that their financial situation will improve in the next year, which is nearly twice the 33% that felt that way in 2011.
While financial optimism is clearly on the rise, the feeling of "preparedness" for the financial future has not improved. The survey found that only 1 in 5 Americans feel "very prepared" for their financial future, including retirement, protecting their wealth and "handling income disruptions of varying durations."
