Despite the October drop, the millionaire index remains in neutral territory for a third month; the AI index, which measures the investment confidence of households with $500,000 or more in investable assets, stays in mildly bearish territory.

In response to an open-ended question about the one factor most affecting their investment plans, affluent investors in October cited stock market conditions and the economic environment ; a few cited retirement, household income or household cash flow.

Millionaires expressed more concern about the stock market than the affluent, but were slightly less concerned about the economy .