The takeaway
Expectations about personal finance conditions are at the heart of consumer confidence‚ and that confidence impacts spending, saving, and overall economic activity.
The Bankrate Consumer Survey
Our FRED graph above shows data from the Bankrate Consumer Survey, conducted annually each November or December. The survey asks US adults whether they expect their personal financial situation to be better, worse, or the same in the coming year. The graph shows two overall (or “net”) measures: the share who say better (solid blue line) and the share who say worse (dashed green line).
Between 2018 and 2025, the period when the data are available, the share of survey respondents expecting their finances to worsen grew from 12% to 32%. During those years, the share of survey respondents expecting their finances to improve shrank from 44% to 34%.
Bankrate weights the collected survey responses to reflect the broad makeup of the US adult population, and the pattern in forward-looking expectations described above complements what we discussed in a recent FRED Blog post about the perceived economic well-being of households reported through the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED).
Put together, the Bankrate and SHED surveys help paint a picture of present conditions and future confidence about the state of personal finances and the overall economy. When current well-being is broadly positive but year-ahead optimism is tepid, the result may be more cautious spending and saving by households. Time will tell.
How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Bankrate Consumer Survey Poll: What is Your Personal Finance Outlook This Year? Better (Net).” Click on the “Edit Graph” button and select the “Add Line” tab to search for “Bankrate Consumer Survey Poll: What is Your Personal Finance Outlook This Year? Worse (Net).” Don’t forget to click on “Add data series.”
Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.