We investigated racial/ethnic differences in high return investment ownership using the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Logistic regression analysis shows that even after controlling for income, risk tolerance, education, and other factors, Black and Hispanic households are less likely to hold high return investments than White households, but Asian/Other households are not different from White households. Based on results from decomposition methods, if the households with Black and with Hispanic respondents have the same characteristics and risk tolerance as White households, the racial/ethnic gap in high return investment ownership would be narrowed, but still exists. The Fairlie decomposition method might be more reasonable to use for decomposition analyses than the Blinder-Oaxaca method.

This research sought to further understanding of factors related to low-income household saving behavior. Saving behavior, defined as whether a household spent less than income, was analyzed by applying institutional theory, which proposes that households' institutional environment has a substantial effect on financial decisions. Two logistic regression models were used to test the effects of variables on saving behavior; the first logit was based on the life cycle hypothesis and the second added noneconomic individual factors (i.e., social networks, financial literacy, and psychological variables) and institutional factors (i.e., access, incentives, and facilitation). Institutional factors, including the number of institutions used, credit access, and having an employer sponsored retirement plan, had significant effects even after controlling for the effect of variables based on the life cycle model, suggesting that promoting institutional access and facilitation—especially through employer-provided plans—may encourage saving behavior among low-income households.

The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with a composite measure of financial behaviors among soldiers. Using primary data from a sample of soldiers before deploying to a war zone, results suggest that past behaviors and some personal factors play a significant role in soldiers' financial behaviors. Personal factors, such as high levels of subjective financial knowledge, higher self-mastery, and lower levels of financial anxiety, all had positive effects on financial behaviors. Soldiers with any amount of credit card debt had worse financial behaviors compared to soldiers with no credit card debt, while soldiers with greater amounts of emergency financial savings were more likely to have better financial behaviors than those who had very little or no emergency financial savings. Understanding these financial behaviors helps service providers to reduce the stress and anxiety soldiers and their families experience before a deployment.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between holding mortgage debt into retirement and financial satisfaction. Using data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Survey, this study explored the association between holding a mortgage in retirement and financial satisfaction through the use of a two-block hierarchical regression model. The first model of socio-demographics, financial constraints, and financial characteristics revealed a negative relationship between mortgage holders and financial satisfaction. The second model added measures of financial capability and financial beliefs, which revealed strong relationships between comfort with debt, knowledge about mortgages, subjective financial knowledge, and risk tolerance with financial satisfaction. After the addition of financial capability and belief measures, no relationship was found between holding a mortgage and financial satisfaction. Results suggest practitioners should explore their clients' beliefs about debt, as opposed to just the objective costs and benefits, when evaluating whether to hold a mortgage in retirement.

Prior research has found a relationship between the health habits of individuals and their financial well-being. Little research has been conducted, however, to explore the nature of the health-wealth connection. The purpose of this study was to explore and test the association of physical health behaviors, namely exercise and diet, and health information search behaviors, and financial wellness. Using data from the 2008 wave of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), retirement planning activities were used as a proxy for financial wellness, and self-determination theory as a framework for the analysis, this study found that individuals who engage in health information search behaviors, such as reading the contents and nutrition details of food labels, are more likely to engage in financial planning activities.

The purpose of this study is to examine factors associated with households’ willingness to take financial risks, particularly the effect of households’ expectations. The data used in this study are the Survey of Consumer Finances 2007 by which researchers can examine the household financial issues before the financial crisis. By employing multinomial logit regression, the new finding of this study is that when the households expect that the future economy will be better, they are not willing to take either no or substantial financial risk. This study uses the uncertainty theory with the timing of the survey to interpret this seemingly unintuitive result. Other findings are that age, more working people in a household, male, education, and majority race are household characteristics positively affecting the probability of the household’s willingness to take average and above average financial risks.

The Social Security Statement is one of the most important outreach efforts of the Social Security Administration (SSA). In October 1999, SSA began sending out the Statement to inform Americans aged 25 or older about their estimated benefits and their earnings records. This article reviews the Statement's history, discusses how the public uses the Statement in retirement planning, and highlights how the Statement has increased the public's knowledge of Social Security. The article describes SSA tools and publications that the public can use in retirement planning. It concludes with suggestions for how financial educators, counselors, planners, and researchers might use the Statement and related survey data to inform the public about Social Security programs, benefits, and services.

A recent meta-analysis of the effect of financial literacy and financial education on downstream financial behaviors has shown a weak collective impact of the work of financial education. While the findings are not stellar, they do not support a dismantling of financial education programs and funding. This paper examines the findings of the meta-analysis and discusses the implications for the field. In this discussion, a more thoughtful consideration of the ways to provide financial education and the manner about how to influence behavior is highlighted. In addition, this article proposes a systematic examination of why timely educational approaches should coexist with longer-term financial education programming. The field also needs a more rigorous examination of factors that impact intervention effectiveness, including a call for improved research protocol and evaluation and a plea for greater visibility between researchers and practitioners.