The wealthy are recovering their fortunes and their joie de vivre, but they haven't recovered their love for luxury.

A new survey from the Affluence Collaborative, run by the luxury-ad experts AgencySacks, finds that the wealthy are optimistic about their finances and feel genuinely happy about their place in life.

According to the survey, which polled 900 people with incomes of more than $75,000, half of those with incomes of more than $500,000 said they felt 'extremely optimistic' about their financial situation. Of those with $75,000 to $200,000 of income, only about a fifth reported extreme optimism. The $500,000-plus group also reported being happier than they were two years ago and happier than others around them.

But when it comes to spending, they are feeling downright morbid.

About a third of the women in the study said they plan on decreasing the amount they spend on luxury items in the next 12 months, while half planned no change and only 16% plan to spend more. The categories taking the biggest hit among those planning to spend less were jewelry, clothing, accessories, shoes and handbags.

More than half the women said they get more satisfaction from saving money.

But here's the kicker. When given a list of 25 brands from various categories and asked which made them happiest, the top four responses were technology brands. Fashion brands didn't even make the top 15.

When given a list of 22 activities that contribute to their current sense of happiness, shopping for luxuries ranked 20th, barelybeating smoking.

Some might see that as an encouraging sign, since, for smokers, few things in life add to your momentary happiness than lighting up.

Another way to look at it is that for today's affluent, luxury spending is bad for your financial health. Like smoking, it gives you short-term happiness, but ultimately is damaging to you and the broader society.

Or, perhaps the wealthy just like to sound virtuous in surveys, especially as the rest of the country remains mired in recession. They say they are being frugal, but really they are splurging like it is 2007. After all, someone is responsible for all the blockbuster earnings of late by the luxury companies.

Do you think luxury spending is as bad as smoking? Have you kicked the habit?

Robert Frank

• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中词汇)
• survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中词汇)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中词汇)
• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中词汇)
• extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中词汇)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中词汇)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中词汇)
• satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中词汇)
• contribute [kən´tribju:t] v.贡献出；投稿；捐献 (初中词汇)
• barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中词汇)
• responsible [ri´spɔnsəbəl] a.尽责的；责任重大的 (初中词汇)
• jewelry [´dʒu:əlri] n.珠宝(饰物) (高中词汇)
• momentary [´məuməntəri] a.瞬息间的 (四级词汇)
• lighting [´laitiŋ] n.照明，发光 (四级词汇)
• ultimately [´ʌltimitli] ad.最后，最终 (四级词汇)
• virtuous [´və:tjuəs] a.道德的；善良的 (四级词汇)
• genuinely [´dʒenjuinli] ad.由衷地 (六级词汇)
• downright [´daunrait] a.直率的 ad.彻底 (六级词汇)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (六级词汇)
• beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (六级词汇)
• frugal [´fru:gəl] a.节俭的，俭朴的 (六级词汇)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (六级词汇)