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Bankrate.com Senior Analyst Greg McBride on how the down economy is affecting consumers financial outlook.
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In focus tonight your financial security nearly three in ten Americans say their overall financial situation is worse off -- today than one year ago.
That's according to a new Bankrate survey when it comes to job security the pictures a little brighter Greg McBride as vice president and senior financial analyst for Bankrate dot com.
Gregory to see you.
This is about financial security and I think it's fascinating people still really stinging from the recession here.
When -- story earlier in the show about how people don't trust financial institutions and I was really frankly shocked at the level of people.
Who say they don't trust the big banks are these two thinks connected in your view.
I think the commonality here is that people have not recovered from the recession and so -- not only that they've not recovered their trust in financial institutions they haven't recovered financially.
People are still dealing with savings that have been depleted.
401K accounts accounts that were hammered by the 2008 market meltdown till people start feeling better about their finances they're still going to be really stinging from 2009.
So 20% of Americans say their overall financial security lower than one year ago 23% -- feel better.
What is there for to feel better about you know I was thinking about -- -- gas prices and started to kick higher again food prices higher the housing market.
Still not making the turn quite yet.
It would be what do you make of that in the view consumers have about their backyard when -- well in many.
In June we actually for the first time had seen the people we're actually feeling better about their financial security we finally turned a corner.
We did regress a little bit here in July and that's really not surprised given the run of disappointing economic data we've had.
They ended the retail sales for June it just can really kind of shows that it's starting to resonate with consumers.
They're starting to feel a little uneasy whether it's Europe whether it's the looming fiscal -- all of those things are starting to take a tall not just -- businesses -- consumers as well.
I think people do taken that news on the fiscal club the fact that their taxes are gonna go up at the end of the year and they thank.
Really why am I gonna buy anything right now because at the end of the day I'm really paying more in taxes I actually need to save money not spend absolutely.
Businesses are going to the same thing by the way and boardrooms across this country right now as companies start to look toward -- 2013 budgeting -- scenario planning they're doing is saying.
Well hey you know what we have to account for this worst case scenario in the event of the fiscal -- What companies really won't -- bunch of people or make a bunch of camera investments that back cloud of uncertainty and yet your job security numbers look pretty darn good why it well you know I think this is -- -- indicator that people are no longer in imminent fear that they're gonna lose their job that's good right -- -- Job market -- job growth has been -- low household incomes are stagnant and so we need people to spend they're not gonna spend until they see more in coming up.
I at a tea I'm tired of all -- -- of spending being on consumers' backs I'd like to see companies.
Spends all those dollars they have on their balance sheets that are just sitting there I think a lot of consumers out there tired of being told -- responsible for the economic recovery.
Why everybody's kind of in the same boat in the sense that that uncertainty causes people to be more conservative they scaled back.
They stockpile cash in case there's rainy days ahead.
In the -- -- consumers they don't have enough cash put away but they realize.
They have this recognition that they need to do more and we see that in terms of the how they feel about their savings by nearly 321.
I'm -- I'm not -- -- -- exactly that's a real problem in this economy because people are so much more at the margin they were before they have nothing to fall back on now.
He can't tap your home equity.
We see section -- really appalling numbers when it comes to college debt break.
-- -- she can't do anymore is turned your home equity to find you pack your kid's education so people's options are really narrowed in this market.
Well only used to being -- leaned against the -- of credit and so now instead what they're doing is having to rely on savings problem is they don't have enough savings to support the lifestyle.
That credit used to whether it's sending the kids through college that they wanted or just spending keeping up with the joneses and that's why we get this economy can't get out of first year.
Greg McBride thanks for coming outside it's always a pleasure to see --
