Americans Fear D.C. Politics More than North Korea

Read Time:2 Minute, 57 Second

By  USDR

 

The political environment in Washington is the biggest threat to the U.S. economy over the next 6 months, according to a Bankrate.com survey of U.S. adults that was conducted within the past week. 36% cited the political situation in D.C., more than the next two choices combined (the threat posed by North Korea, at 24%, and rising interest rates, at 10%). Terrorism also registered approximately 10% of the vote and a decline in the stock market came in with 8%. Click here for more  information:

http://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/financial-security-0917/

Most demographic groups selected D.C. politics as the biggest risk. Democrats, college graduates and middle-income households have the strongest distaste for what’s happening in the nation’s capital. Three groups are more likely to fear North Korea than domestic politics: Republicans, Hispanics and  southerners.

All age groups selected D.C. politics as the biggest danger, ranging from 34% of millennials to 39% of Baby Boomers. But whereas just 15% of millennials listed North Korea as the biggest near-term economic hazard, 32% of Boomers said so. Collectively, younger millennials (18-26 year-olds) actually put North Korea in fourth place (all other age ranges had it  second).

“Since we last asked this question in April, the stock market has repeatedly set new highs, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates again and announced the start of unwinding their bond holdings. Yet Americans’ angst about rising interest rates or a stock market decline barely registers, with worries instead centered around the political environment in Washington and developments on the international scene,” said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com’s chief financial  analyst.

The Bankrate.com Financial Security Index fell to its lowest level since May, but at 104.8, it’s still tied for the sixth-highest reading in the 82 months since polling began in Dec. 2010. Men are feeling particularly good about their finances; their 107.7 rating is significantly higher than the 101.8 posted by women. Any figure above 100 indicates improved financial security over the past 12  months.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of about 1,000 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline and cell phone in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source in September 2017. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is approximately 3.8 percentage  points.

About  Bankrate.com:

Bankrate.com provides consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. For over two decades, Bankrate.com has been a leading personal finance destination. The company offers award-winning editorial content, competitive rate information, and calculators and tools across multiple categories, including mortgages, deposits, credit cards, retirement, automobile loans and taxes. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of over 600 local markets, Bankrate generates rate tables in all 50 U.S. states. Bankrate develops and provides web services to more than 100 cobranded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the internet, such as Comcast, Yahoo!, CNBC and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to more than 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times and The Los Angeles  Times.

 

SOURCE  Bankrate.com

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %
Videos