Gallup polls Americans on state of the economy, realities of retirement

NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller sits down for his weekly conversation with Gallup’s Frank Newport to talk about trends in U.S. opinion.

One of the key issues of the presidential campaign, and perhaps the most important problem facing the nation, is the economy.

Half of Americans rate their financial situation as excellent or good. That’s up a little from recent years but below pre-Recession years.

Two-thirds of Americans say they have enough money to live comfortably.

However, just 48 percent believe they will have enough to live comfortably when they retire.  That’s rate has been constant for several years, but below the consistent 59 percent found in the early 2000s, before the Great Recession.

Expectations concerning retirement form an age-defined “U.” Young people are positive; those from 30 to 49 are much more negative; and the over-50 segment is positive again.

One might think that Americans would hope to retire earlier than most people actually do. Yet, those polled say they will retire at age 66, while the average age of retirees is 61.

We know that retirees certainly would be in deep trouble without Social Security; 59 percent of today’s retirees say it’s a major source of their income. But only 29 percent of the workforce believes Social Security will be a major source of income when they retire.