According to the latest Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, 33 percent of Americans see their personal family finances getting better next year. That's up from 28 percent who felt that way in Marist College's April 2009 survey.
Fewer people expect their finances to get worse within the next year. The survey reports:
o 15 percent said their finances would be worse in 2011, while 22 percent felt that way in the survey taken 15 months ago.
o Younger Americans are the most optimistic: 44 percent of those under 45 years old see financial improvement in 2011, while only 25 percent of those 45 and older felt that way.
o Regarding retirement, 55 percent of men and 45 percent of women said they were less concerned about altering their standards of living after they stop working, while 75 percent of retirees said they were able to maintain their standard of living.
The poll of 1,004 U.S. residents involved two samples, retirees and non-retirees. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
