Personal Finance/Social Trust

Survey Details: Conducted October-November 2006
File Release Date: 13 November 2007

From the kitchen to the laundry room to the home entertainment center, Americans are paring down the list of familiar household appliances they say they can't live without.

Survey Details: Conducted October-November 2006 File Release Date: 13 November 2007

Social trust is a belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability of others - a "faith in people." It's a simple enough concept to describe. But it's never been easy to figure out who trusts, or why.

Nearly three-in-ten adults say the most common way they take care of their regular monthly bills is by an online or electronic payment.

Despite a negative national savings rate, three-in-four Americans still think of themselves as savers. But a majority also acknowledge they don't save enough.

Most Americans are moderately upbeat about their family's financial prospects in the coming year, with 57% expecting some improvement in their financial situation and another 10% expecting a lot of improvement.

Despite a record drop this past year in the median sales price of existing homes, more than eight-in-ten homeowners expect the value of their homes to go up either "a little" (55%) or "a lot" (26%) in the future.

A majority of Americans say they set a budget limit for their holiday shopping; 56% have already set or plan to set a limit while 41% say they don't use a budget limit for holiday shopping.