2024 American Perspectives Survey

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People in New York are optimistic about their personal financial situations and the growth prospects of the U.S. economy over the next year, standing out from national trends. New Yorkers also exhibit various degrees of enthusiasm, comfort and skepticism in the forces shaping the consumer experience, according to a new study released today by ��㣨Leyu�� LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.

This survey of over 400 adults in New York is part of the inaugural ��㣨Leyu�� American Perspectives Survey, which assessed the views of an additional 1,100 adults nationwide to understand their outlook on their personal financial situation and the U.S. economy, spending plans and preferences, as well as attitudes toward the forces shaping their experience in banking, energy, government, automobiles, healthcare and technology.

The report reviews these perspectives through the lens of compound volatility, the combination of near- term risks, such as geopolitical and technology driven disruption, as well as longer-term structural changes to the U.S. economy, including the energy transition and sticky inflation.

Find the full report here.

Insights from Yessi Scheker, ��㣨Leyu�� New York Office Managing Partner:

Key takeaways: “Bucking national trends, New Yorkers are the optimistic outliers, buoyed by confidence in not only their personal finances but also the growth prospects of the U.S. economy. Despite rising interest rates and inflation, New Yorkers remain resilient in their attitudes toward their disposable income and plan to shift their shopping habits to be more financially savvy.��

On GenAI expectations: “As early adopters of GenAI, New Yorkers are comfortable engaging with the technology in their day-to-day experiences. Nearly half are comfortable taking GenAI-generated advice for budgeting and credit cards, ahead of the national average. Companies must ensure they have the proper guardrails in place as they move with speed to deploy GenAI responsibly.��

New Yorkers are optimistic about their personal financial situation, and unlike national trends, are also optimistic about the growth prospects of the U.S. economy.

Fifty percent of New Yorkers are optimistic about their personal financial situation in the next year, compared to just 22% who are not.
Unlike the national trend, New Yorkers are also relatively confident in the growth prospects of the U.S. economy (41% optimistic vs. 33% not optimistic). Nationwide, 37% of people are optimistic about the growth prospects of the U.S. economy, compared to 38% who are not.
Even with sticky inflation, New Yorkers are also more optimistic about their disposable income in the next year, with 47% optimistic compared to 30% not optimistic. That 17 percentage-point gap is greater than the national 12 percentage-point difference (44% optimistic vs 32% not optimistic).
While New Yorkers are more optimistic than the rest of the country, shifts in the economy have led New Yorkers to a more discerning approach to their spending habits, with 65% saying they plan to do more discount shopping than they do today, similar to the national average. Additionally, 17% of New Yorkers report they will use more buy now, pay later services this year.
New Yorkers are planning to do more in-person shopping (28%), compared with shopping using select brand mobile apps (22%) or brands discovered on social media (16%).
Meanwhile, 21% of New Yorkers are planning to shop more with sustainability in mind, even if it means higher prices, consistent with the national average.

The future of banking is top of mind for New Yorkers as they evaluate digital options, the implementation of GenAI and cybersecurity risks.

New Yorkers see value in physical bank branches, with 36% reporting they would not shift to a digital alternative even with comparable services. At the same time, 45% of New Yorkers demand banking services be enhanced by GenAI. In particular, New Yorkers believe GenAI can help the most with budgeting (47%) and credit card choices (53%), but have some skepticism about GenAI advice related to mortgages (30%) and investment advice (37%).
However, these trends vary by generation. A majority of Gen Z (65%) and millennials (57%) in New York are comfortable with GenAI budgeting advice from their bank, compared to just 47% of Gen X and 31% of boomers.
Most New Yorkers (58%) are worried about a cybersecurity breach at their bank and the risk of such an event compromising their personal information.

As people use GenAI in their personal and professional lives, they expect to see advanced technology in their interactions with both private and public sectors.

With new GenAI services launching regularly, over 50% of New Yorkers report that GenAI is having at least somewhat of an impact on their personal and professional lives, compared to 40% of Americans nationwide. New Yorkers report they are using it professionally either daily (14%) or weekly (16%), while 33% report using it in their personal life as a substitute for online searches.
With U.S. CEOs from large companies planning to increase their investment in GenAI, New Yorkers have high expectations when it comes to companies adopting GenAI to improve their services or products �� even though their personal use of the technology is still in its early stages.
In addition to banking, New Yorkers see the upside of GenAI in healthcare when it comes to productivity. Over half (53%) believe it will improve the consumer experience through enhancing telehealth, helping schedule appointments and refilling prescriptions, and 39% believe it will increase efficiency for healthcare providers by streamlining administrative tasks.
New Yorkers also expect government agencies to integrate GenAI, saying it is important for the government to use GenAI to improve their experiences with services such as the DMV (68%), healthcare benefits (62%) and management of consumer complaints (61%). About one-third of New Yorkers (34%) feel government agencies are adequately leveraging technology to improve their services.

Of New Yorkers who view GLP-1s as potentially important to them personally, 34% believe GLP-1 medication would improve their quality of life, but few are willing to pay higher insurance premiums for coverage.

Just 30% of New Yorkers believe GLP-1s are not important to them personally.
Of New Yorkers who view GLP-1s as potentially important to them personally, 34% believe taking GLP-1 drugs would improve their quality of life by helping with overall health, significant weight loss or a specific health issue. Another 21% view them as too risky and 16% believe their benefits are difficult to predict.
Seventy-one percent would not be willing to pay out of pocket for the drugs, and only 20% would be willing to pay higher insurance premiums for coverage.

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