Consumer Confidence

How confident are you in your current financial situation? Do you expect your finances to remain secure? Do you expect to maintain the same rate of spending? Your answers to these questions are the basis for what's known as the Consumer Confidence Index. This index measures how optimistic US consumers feel.

Let's take a look at what the Consumer Confidence Index is telling us now. The index is showing us that the confidence level of US consumers has been growing for several years, and is now at a 17 year high. Consumers have not been this confident since before 9/11. That's good news, right? Well, the simple answer to that is this: yes and no.

Crazy as it sounds, when consumers are too confident for too long, this can be a warning sign. What do consumers do when they are too confident? They tend to take on too much debt. Are we in this danger zone? It doesn't look that way. Let's look at consumer debt service levels. Household debt costs have not risen back to the danger levels of 2008.

So as it now stands, the average consumer and average household is in pretty good financial shape. Consumers are optimistic, but they are not too burdened with debt. These are all positive signs. We will continue to watch these trends carefully. Thanks for your confidence in us here at GWP.