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Local MSAs in top 100 on saving/investing survey |
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The Nest Egg Index shows that people in the eastern United States generally are doing a better job of building personal savings than their counterparts west of the Mississippi, while southern locales -- with the exception of Florida -- trail their northern neighbors by a wide margin, A.G. Edwards noted.
Florida tied with California and Pennsylvania for the the most communities making the top 200 list, each with 13.
One of the purposes of the Nest Egg Index, according to A.G. Edwards, is to show the geographic regions where people are succeeding and where they face the greatest difficulty in building and nurturing their nest eggs.
"It's designed to show Americans the importance of saving," said Scott D. Wadsworth, a financial consultant with the Port Charlotte office of A.G. Edwards, "to encourage them to take one simple step to reach their goals."
Wadsworth cited a U.S. Department of Commerce report showing a negative national personal savings rate in October.
"The figure was negative seven-tenths of a percent, one of the lowest savings rates since the Great Depression," he said. "In 1981, it was 12.5 percent."
"It's apparent that many Americans are not setting aside enough personal savings," said Robert L. Bagby, chairman and chief executive officer of A.G. Edwards.
"Only 53 percent of Americans have a retirement plan in place," said Wadsworth, "and half of Americans who are nearing retirement have $10,000 or less in and IRA or other retirement plan."
The demographic of Southwest Florida is different from many areas, Vito said, due to the large number of retirees who already have savings accounts, IRAs and investments. Retirees moving into the area -- and bringing their nest eggs -- will continue to be a staple of the area economy.
"With 70 million baby boomers retiring in the next 10 years, we're predicting some very significant household growth," Vito said. "Charlotte County is a position to take advantage of the new wealth coming into the market.
"We don't have industry here, so our big thing is attracting wealth from other parts of the country," Vito added. "That money fueling our service industries is very important in this economy."
Boomers and retirees are attracted by the area's quality of life and the "small-town feel" of places like Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, North Port, Englewood and Arcadia. The chore of maintaining such ambiance falls to the full-time residents who must work for a living, and here Vito offered a cautionary note on an otherwise affirmative report.
Working families, he said are having an increasingly hard time finding extra money to save or invest.
"Local inflationary issues, such as the cost of housing, have taken a toll on the ability of some families to save," Vito said.
Until those issues are resolved, some area nests won't have any eggs at all.
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