A new poll of U.S. adults on their financial well-being reveals contrasts between what they feel now and about the future.

According to the survey commissioned by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), 68 percent of respondents say the current quality of their financial life is what they expected or better, while 69 percent are at least somewhat concerned that their money will last through their later years.

Among other feedback, released in April, from the 1,222 adults nationwide who were polled by mail, phone and face-to-face interviewers: 

• 53 percent felt they will never have the things they want in life because of money.
• 62 percent are, to one degree or another, “just getting by” financially, and 33 percent rarely have money left over at the end of a month.
• When asked about having money left over at the end of the month, 39% of respondents say that they do, 27 percent say they sometimes do and 33 percent say they rarely do. 

The poll was conducted by AmericSpeak, a program of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

NEFE) is an independent financial-education advocate and researcher. Additional information is available at  www.nefe.org.