American investors are more optimistic about the economy than they have been in the past seven years, according to the recently released Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index.
The optimism index rose to +46, a number that hasn’t been seen since the fall of 2007, just before the U.S. crashed into recession.
While the numbers in the monthly poll showed a 17-point jump from July, working investors remain more optimistic than retirees.
The Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index measures the financial and economic optimism of American investors. The poll draws on respondents with $10,000 or more in investments in any combination of mutual funds, bonds, stocks, self-directed IRAs and 401(k) accounts.
The survey has been conducted quarterly since 2011. Before that, it was conducted quarterly from October 1996 through December 1998. It was conducted monthly from February 1999 to October 2009.
The most current results come from surveys conducted Aug. 15-24 with 1,011 investors. The survey group included 631 non-retirees and 374 retirees.
Personal Outlooks Are More Positive
Gallup’s poll includes a component that measures investors’ confidence in their personal economic standing versus the broad-based U.S. economy. The most recent poll showed investors have a much more positive view of their personal standing and ability to maintain or improve income over the next year than they do of the broad-based economy.
In regard to personal standing, the number was +47. As far as the overall economy, the number came in around -1. The trend has been similar since 2011.
Disparity Exists
Working Americans seem to be more optimistic about the economy than their retired investor counterparts, Gallup found.
The optimism index for working Americans in the August survey was +50 while retirees logged a +35. The disparity, Gallup theorizes, might be due to the overall steady nature of job gains and growth in the GDP since the start of 2014.
Retirees, on the other hand, have witnessed relatively flat stock market growth since the year began.
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