How the Recession is Affecting Your Financial Behavior

This week social networking site LinkedIn ran a CBS MoneyWatch poll asking how the financial crisis is impacting your financial behavior. Here's how you responded.

Not so surprisingly, the majority of people (66 percent) said they are trying to cut back on spending thanks to the recession. Eleven percent of participants are using their credit cards less and another 11 percent is actively saving money in a savings account.

But what I found most interesting when I drilled deeper into the results is that a few categories of respondents were acting more cautiously then everyone else. Over 75 percent of those over 55 are closing their wallets versus just 60 percent of 25-34 year-olds. Considering the older folks have lived through and survived multiple recessions, I'm thinking everyone else should follow their lead.

Now for the professional results. Eighty percent of business owners and more than three quarters of human resources professionals said they are tightening their purse strings too.

This tells me two things. First, business owners in particular are getting squeezed during this recession. An owner of a regional executive recruiting firm explained his situation to me this way. Since he's the boss, the good news is he doesn't have to worry about losing his job. But on the flip side, when the business cycle takes a turn for the worse, his income also suffers.

Second, those folks in HR (you know, the ones who are the first to hear about upcoming layoffs) may be a leading indicator of sorts for the economy. I'm not claiming to invent a new hemline or lipstick indicator, but if you start to notice your human resources staff wearing last year's shoes or cutting back at the cafeteria, it could be a sign you should be saving your pennies too.

Sound crazy? I don't think so. The Society for Human Resource Management, an industry group for HR professionals, put out two recent surveys with some dismal news. The first one measures what steps companies are taking to survive the next six months. The results: nearly 40 percent (37 percent) of firms plan to freeze wages and more than 30 percent will cut bonuses.<

The second survey, the Labor Market Outlook, gauges HR professionals' opinions on the job market in the second quarter. Again, the pros are feeling pessimistic. Nearly 70 percent of them plan to eliminate jobs or keep the payrolls flat. And managers and professionals will be the most likely (54 percent) to receive a pink slip.

The bottom line: The 66 percent of you who are spending less should keep it up. The rest of you, what are you waiting for?

Save Money image by voobie, CC 2.0