Wealthy Americans Look to Preserve Capital

The outlook for an improved economy, along with expectations for personal income and spending plans among affluent Americans, has reached record lows, according to the Affluent Market Tracking Study, released by the American Affluence Research Center.

“The outlook among luxury consumers for an improvement in the economy, and their willingness to spend, are at all-time lows for our studies,” said to Ron Kurtz of the American Affluence Research Center, in a press release. “Their concerns are underlined by the emphasis placed on preservation of financial assets, which contrasts with attitudes from prior years, when respondents said their primary objective was capital appreciation and growth.”

The majority of respondents reported that preservation of capital is now their primary investment objective. Additionally, their stock market outlook indicated that respondents anticipate the market to rise in advance of an economy that will improve at a slow pace, as analysts have predicted (see “Stock Market Close to Bottom, Analysts Say“).

The study also found so-called “luxury consumers” plan to spend less in the coming months.

The Affluent Market Tracking Study, conducted twice-yearly, focuses on the luxury market and the 11.2 million households representing the wealthiest 10% of all U.S. households. Participants in the current survey have an average annual household income of $290,000, average primary residence value of $1.2 million, average net worth of $3.1 million, and average investable assets of $1.4 million.