Take Stock

American Demographics, Oct 1, 2002 by Pamela Paul

Byline: PAMELA PAUL

People are concerned about how the performance of stocks affects their personal financial situation. And hearing about corporate abuses makes Americans loath to put their funds into company stocks. In a June 2002 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 57 percent said they do not have confidence that "when it comes to financial information that major stock brokerage firms and corporations provide to the public, the information is straightforward and an honest analysis." A June CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked, "Do the recent scandals involving large corporations make you less likely to invest in the stock market or not?" Fully 58 percent responded yes.

In a survey of 500 people with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more and who manage the investments for their household, 13 percent of respondents said they would have to delay retirement because of stock losses. According to the poll, conducted by International Communications Research in December 2001 for Quicken, 23 percent of those age 55 and older said they would have to retire later as a result of slumping stocks. And this was before the steeper market slide of 2002.

RETIRE THAT RETIREMENT PLAN

Nearly 8 in 10 (79 percent) of investors plan to take some form of action as a result of the stock market decline this past year.

Which of these actions have you taken or are you now taking as a result of the stock market decline over the past year?