---
title: "Wait til Next Year"
description: "While a majority of Americans believe that next year will be better than 2010, there was far more optimism at the beginning of the year."
date: "2010-12-29"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2010/12/29/wait-til-next-year/"
---

# Wait til Next Year

Most Americans remain optimistic about the future. A 55%-majority believes that the year ahead will be better than 2010. Just 31% say the coming year will be worse. At the beginning of this year, however, the public was far more optimistic. In a January 2010 survey, fully two thirds of Americans (67%) said the new year would be better than the last (2009). Americans are also, on balance, optimistic about their financial futures. Though just 35% of Americans say their personal financial situation is excellent or good, 56% say they think their own economic situation will improve a lot (7%) or some (49%) over the next year. Roughly a quarter (26%) expect their financial situation to get worse, while 14% believe it will stay the same. While optimistic on balance, personal financial expectations have shown no improvement over the course of 2010. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1829/2010-tough-year-public-downbeat-national-conditions)