HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR FINANCES?

the following survey might make you feel better. than again it might not. according to the survey, even the wealthy are feeling the pain of the currently ending economic slowdown and stock bear market.

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Wealthy people are generally more pessimistic about their financial future today than they were a year ago, according to the 2003 Phoenix/Harris Interactive Wealth Survey.
The survey, which polled 1,496 people who had a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding the value of their primary home, showed that 22% of the respondents are somewhat pessimistic or very pessimistic about their financial future, versus 12% in 2002, 7% in 2001 and 5% in 2000. The respondents were polled in March, and the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
The majority of those polled, 63%, say they believe the worst is over for the economy; 20% feel the U.S. will remain in a prolonged economic downturn for the next two years; 13% said the worst is yet to come before a rebound; and 4% had no opinion. The same question wasn't asked in previous years' polls.
Of those surveyed, 37% feel slightly to very pessimistic about the U.S. economy for the next one to two years; 12% say they are neither optimistic or pessimistic; and 51% are slightly to very optimistic. Again, results weren't comparable to past years.
A rising percentage - 39% versus 34% in 2002 - are very concerned about outliving their money, with similar upturns in the percentage of people who feel they don't invest the time they should to manage their finance and who prefer to deal with several financial advisors rather than one.
A rising proportion of wealthy people also consider themselves more as savers than investors, with 43% describing themselves that way, compared to 35% in previous years. In addition, 40% said they either didn't rely on financial advisors or didn't find them helpful in achieving their wealth; 40% found them somewhat helpful; 18% found them very helpful; and 2% found them vital.
Overall, the largest contingent of those surveyed, 62%, estimated they had lost between 15% and 40% of their investment portfolio in the past three years, with the largest subsection, 18%, estimating their losses at 30%. As a result, 60% said they have rebalanced their portfolios; of those who didn't rebalance, only 14% say they plan to this year, and 71% said they didn't think it was necessary to rebalance. The majority of those who did rebalance or plan to rebalance - 65% - said they decided on their own that they needed to, but 62% said they have used or will use a financial advisor to do the actual task of rebalancing.

so if you're feeling a bit less wealthy, at least you are not alone. what is that saying, "misery loves company"... well, at least you're in good company!

have a grateful day!
larry