Money worries plague Americans across the financial spectrum. Of those making between 60,000 U.S. dollars and 100,000 dollars a year, 26 percent described their finances as shaky while 10 percent of those making more than 100,000 dollars.

The poll also found a sharp racial disparity in how Americans view their finances. Although 61 percent of whites and 54 percent of other racial groups polled said their personal economic situation was secure, just 39 percent of African Americans described their finances in positive terms.

More than half of African Americans polled, 53 percent, said their finances were shaky, 34 percent of whites and 42 percent of other ethnic groups polled expressed similar concerns.

The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, based on telephone interviews May 1 through May 8 with 2,208 adults nationwide, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2008)