Only 23% of Americans in a new survey expressed confidence that the current leadership in Washington would have a positive effect on their finances, down five percentage points from a year ago, Bankrate.com reported Thursday.
Forty percent of poll participants said they expected the leadership to have a negative effect, way up from 26% last year. Thirty percent said Washington would not influence their finances one way or another.
SSRS Omnibus conducted a bilingual telephone survey for Bankrate.com in early December with 1,007 respondents.
Thirty-eight percent of Americans who purported to feel optimistic about the Trump administration's effect on their finances said they would benefit from a lighter tax burden.
On Wednesday, the Republican Congress sent a major tax overhaul bill to the White House for the president's expected signature.
Eighteen percent of optimists looked forward to their investments increasing in value, 9% to rising income and 6% to decreasing expenses. Five percent said their assets would benefit from all these factors.
Taxes were also the major consideration for those with a negative view of Washington. Forty-six percent worried that they would pay more in taxes.
Other concerns: 15% cited higher expenses, 9% lower income and 4% decreasing value of their investments. Ten percent said all these circumstances would affect them.
