While the S&P may have hit new highs and housing prices are on the rebound, there is still a great deal of caution in the minds of Americans regarding the economy. Looking ahead, three in ten Americans (29%) expect the economy to improve in the coming year, 41% expect it to stay the same and three in ten (29%) expect it to get worse. These are similar to last month, when 30% said the economy would improve, 37% said it would stay the same and 33% said it would get worse.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,345 adults surveyed online between April 10 and 15, 2013 by Harris Interactive (full findings and data tables available here).  

Looking at household financial conditions, while about half of Americans (49%) say their financial conditions will stay the same over the next six months, one in five (22%) say it will get better and almost three in ten (28%) believe it will get worse. In March, these numbers were similar, with one in five thinking their household's financial condition would get better (21%), three in ten saying it would get worse (30%) and about half (49%) believing it would remain the same.

Some specific concerns 
There are some individual concerns that many Americans have, and one of the top ones is retirement. Almost three-quarters of Americans (72%) say they are worried, with 35% very worried, that they will not have enough money for retirement. Almost three in five U.S. adults (58%) are worried that they will have to work later in life than they want because they will not be able to afford to retire. Another concern is having enough money; while two in five (41%) say they are worried about not having enough money for basic necessities such as food, housing, clothes and transportation, over half (52%) of Americans are worried they will not be able to afford anything more than the basic necessities.

Paying for certain things is also a concern. Among employed Americans, two-thirds (65%) say they are worried they will have health care costs they cannot afford while 43% say they are worried that they or their spouse will have to take on a second job to make ends meet. Parents are also concerned about expenses and their children. Two-thirds of parents with a child under the age of 21 (67%) say they are worried they will not have enough money for one or more of their children to go to college. And, one-third (35%) of parents with a child of any age are worried that their child or children will have to move back in with them because they will not be able to afford housing.

Looking back, the housing market was a large factor and indicator of the economic troubles for the country. As housing prices go up, are homeowners on better footing? Over three-quarters of homeowners (77%) say they are not worried that they will lose their home because they cannot afford the mortgage payments. Was this the case 5 years ago?