This study explores the association between financial knowledge and financial fragility. Data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study were used to create an index of financial fragility. Relationships between this index and three different measures of financial knowledge were assessed. To mitigate potential endogeneity in the financial knowledge measures, such as neighborhood effect defined as social interactions or characteristics of communities that influence socioeconomic and health behaviors or outcomes of individuals, the neighborhood average education level in US zip code units was used as an instrumental variable. The results from the baseline Ordinary Least Squares regression models and Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression models indicated a negative relationship between financial knowledge and financial fragility; the effect was greater when the instrumental variable was used. Our findings with the neighborhood effect suggest which groups could be a focus for future research as well as offering practical interventions. Further, when designing and implementing educational and behavioral interventions, the knowledge-based approach should gain continued support from financial education, planning, and counseling programs.

Given the soaring costs of higher education, financial aid is helpful to reduce the direct costs of college. Student loans are the most common financial support for college students. The purpose of this research was to estimate whether student loan holding and amounts were negatively associated with life satisfaction utilizing 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. This study utilized the fixed-effects-logit model to demonstrate the association. The results showed that holding student loans was negatively associated with life satisfaction. But there was no statistically significant association when student loans were measured as the actual amount. The existence of student loans rather than the amount was what was associated with decreased utility in the short term. This study mainly focused on the change of “within-group” effect on life satisfaction in the short run. The findings underscore the importance of education savings from parents and use of student loans on overall life satisfaction practitioners.

Financial self-efficacy is associated with positive financial behaviors. This study investigated factors associated with financial self-efficacy among student loan borrowers based on original data collected through an online national survey of student loan borrowers between age 25 and 75. Results revealed that perceived student loan literacy prior to accruing higher education debt was significantly associated with current financial self-efficacy, while general financial literacy during repayment did not appear to be correlated with financial self-efficacy. This study draws on social cognitive theory to suggest that student loan literacy prior to accruing debt may act as a mastery experience, improving financial self-efficacy when the repayment period arrives. Given the increasing prevalence of student loans across all generations, this study underscores the need for early education and mentoring from financial professionals about student loan borrowing.

This research examined how parental communication and family resources provided during adolescence relate to domain-specific financial management behaviors for a sample of 1,245 young adults age 18–34. Using data collected by an online survey administration organization, bivariate analysis results indicated that higher levels of parental communication about proper consumer skills and tangible and intangible family resources were associated with better financial behaviors. Financial behaviors were also found to vary significantly across different levels of family income. Multivariate regression analyses revealed two noteworthy interactions in which intangible resources and financial behaviors varied by level of family income. Better financial behaviors in adulthood were associated with more intangible resources for middle- and upper-income families during adolescence. The reverse was indicated for young adults from lower income families. Control variables of education level, employment status, and gender also showed significance with financial behaviors.

Both self-efficacy and self-regulation have been connected to financial behaviors and financial outcomes of households; however, their associations have been studied independently. This study examined the association between general self-regulation (i.e., mindfulness practice, self-care behaviors, and conflict management) and financial management behavior, mediated by financial self-efficacy. Data was gathered from 693 individuals in couple relationships residing in the Southeastern United States of America who participated in a Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education training program. Analyses of data showed that general self-regulation and financial self-efficacy were positively associated with financial management behaviors and that general self-regulation was indirectly associated with financial management behaviors through financial self-efficacy. Implications of this study suggest that by coupling financial education, counseling, and coaching interventions with broad-based self-regulation programming, such as mindfulness or relationship training, clients will realize more significant improvements in financial management behaviors.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this study yielded a reliable and valid measure for responsible financial behaviors with the potential to serve practitioners when working with consumers. This research utilized Bandura’s Triadic Model of Causation (Bandura, 1985) to investigate and predict responsible financial behaviors. Data from the 2009, 2012, and 2018 National Financial Capability Study surveys were used to construct a responsible financial behaviors index with five subconstructs for time horizon, money management, risk management, debt awareness, and ownership of baseline financial accounts. Results from a series of regression models identified consistent relationships between the index and variables categorized as cognitive factors (financial knowledge, financial self-efficacy, and financial risk tolerance) and background characteristics (educational attainment, income, and marital status).

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential influence of childhood financial socialization on financial well-being in adulthood. Using a sample (N = 2,213) from De Nederlandsche Bank Household Survey (DHS) we modeled the likelihood of household debt/asset ratio less than or equal to 40%, and the likelihood of a household reporting a current ratio (liquid asset /short-term debt ratio) greater than or equal to 100%. Consistent with predictions of social learning theory, being encouraged to save during childhood had a positive association with meeting the financial planning industry benchmarks for these financial ratios in adulthood. The key implication is that the path to financial well-being does not begin with financial knowledge attained in adulthood, but instead begins with experiential learning and socialization during childhood.

This study examines the relationship between sound financial management behaviors and happiness using a national sample of adults collected in 2009 (N = 1,014). We used Maslow's hierarchy of needs (1943) as a theoretical framework to examine associations between sound financial management behavior, economic pressure, relationship satisfaction, and happiness. Findings suggested that economic pressure and relationship satisfaction both mediated the association between sound financial management and happiness, but the mediator effects were only partial. That is, even after accounting for participants' actual financial context, feelings of economic pressure, and relationship satisfaction, a positive association between sound financial management behavior and happiness remained.

Research on residential preferences has consistently orbited around their been correlation with economic and social factors. This study builds on the existing literature by investigating the personality characteristics that shape residential behavior. The specific objective is to examine the Big Five personality traits (OCEAN)—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—and their relationship with the value of individuals’ primary residences and mortgage debt using data collected from the Health and Retirement Study. Regression models are estimated to examine the associations between the OCEAN personality traits and home value and mortgage debt. The findings reveal the following associations: openness and conscientiousness are associated positively, and agreeableness is associated negatively, with larger home values; whereas openness and agreeableness are associated positively, and conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated negatively, with larger mortgage debts.

This study examines the associations among financial hardship, perception of situation, social support, and perceived stress using data from the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. Both financial hardship and perception of situation were hypothesized to be positively associated with perceived stress, whereas social support was hypothesized to act as an intervening variable between perception of situation and perceived stress. The results from a structural equation model showed that (a) financial hardship was a precursor of perception of situation, (b) perception of situation exhibited a positive effect on perceived stress, and (c) social support was negatively related to the level of perceived stress.