What will most people do with their rebate check?

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Those ‘economic stimulus’ checks from Uncle Sam can’t come soon enough for anyone who’s hoping for a burst of consumer spending to rescue the nation from recession.

The big question, of course, is whether most Americans will actually march on down to Best Buy, Wal-Mart or CarMax once those checks begin to show up in May -- or whether they’ll opt to save the money or use it to pay off debt.

Retailers, naturally, are gearing up for the cash windfall, as this story shows.

But the sobering results of a new national survey on peoples’ confidence in a comfortable retirement suggest that many Americans know what they should do with the cash, which will total up to $600 per person, and up to $1,200 for qualified married couples plus $300 for each eligible child.

Here are a few of the findings in the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual retirement-confidence survey, which was published last week and was based on phone interviews with 1,322 people (1,057 workers and 265 retirees) in January:

• The percentage of workers who said they were ‘very confident’ about having enough savings for a comfortable retirement sank to 18% from 27% in 2007. EBRI says that’s the largest one-year drop in the survey’s 18-year history.
• In the 25-to-34 age group, the percentage of workers who said they were ‘very confident’ about a financially comfortable retirement plunged to 18% from 31% in 2007.
• More than half of retirees (54%) said they’re now more concerned about their financial future than they were right after they retired, compared with the 40% who responded that way in the 2007 survey.
• Only 34% of workers expect to have access to employer-based health insurance in retirement, down from the 42% who expected such coverage in last year’s survey.

Obviously, the survey’s results reflect gloom about sinking home prices, the dive in the stock market since summer, and the plunge in short-term interest rates (which has eroded what you can earn on bank savings certificates and money market funds). That triple-whammy is messing with even the best-laid retirement plans.

But if you’re truly worried about your financial picture in retirement, the best way to change the outlook for the better (other than winning Lotto) is to spend less and save more. And now, not next year.

For people who can barely afford to pay for life’s necessities it may be asking too much to suggest they bank the federal rebate check. But tens of millions of Americans will have a choice: Spend it or save it?

What’s your guess on what the majority will do?