Economy, election worries follow visitors to Vegas

By Tim Gaynor

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - With just days to go until the U.S. presidential election, financial gloom hangs like a pall over visitors to Las Vegas.

Wayland Ferguson, a New Mexico resident in town for a conference, said he had no interest in gambling or splashing out during his trip.

"People need to get back to the idea of living on less than they make, not more than they make," he said, as he stood with friends outside one of Las Vegas' attractions, a mall modelled after the forum in ancient Rome.

"We've become a society that lives on credit. We need to increase our savings."

During the good times, the gaudy neon lights of the famed Las Vegas strip fuel dreams of hitting the jackpot, and even breaking the bank at the casinos.

For Justin Pagliarulo, from Georgia, the biggest worry was his retirement fund, which is invested in financial markets through a 401(k) plan.

"I'm losing lots of money on my 401(k) right now, so that's a big concern," said Pagliarulo, who still found some money for a flutter in the casinos, and visit an upscale show by Cirque du Soleil.

Las Vegas' spectacular excess lures nearly 40 million visitors a year from across the United States and beyond, who last year spent some $41.6 billion in the city.