This study examined the link between overindulgence and buying impulsiveness and the link between buying impulsiveness and credit card misuse among undergraduate students from 2 Midwestern universities. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine these relationships. Overindulgence predicted buying impulsiveness when controlling for the effects of age, race, gender, public or private school, and whether or not the student was employed. Buying impulsiveness predicted credit card misuse while using the same control variables. Overindulgence was not found to predict credit card misuse.

Study investigates distal and proximal contextual influences of the American Indian culture that affect financial decisions and behaviors. Primary household financial managers were interviewed. Study was grounded in Deacon and Firebaugh’s Family Resource Management theory. Findings indicated that American Indians view many concepts differently than conventional disciplinary meanings. Most critical is that money is not the only currency used within the culture but relationships and nature are also used as other currencies. Further findings of note are (a) the cultural belief that resources must be shared with all family members is seen as an obligation and often creates major resource demands, (b) spirituality and nature are of major importance in resource decisions, and (c) the holistic, integrated view of health and well-being is essential to consider when working with American Indians on resource management. Three resource management patterns were discovered: mainstream, traditional, and hybrid. Expense and income worksheets were developed reflecting cultural nuances.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between financial literacy and financial behaviors among various age groups. Financial literacy was measured in three ways: objective financial knowledge, subjective financial knowledge or confidence, and subjective financial management ability. The age groups were 18–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65 and older. Long-term financial behavior referred to retirement saving and investing behavior, whereas short-term financial behavior referred to spending and emergency saving behavior. In the full sample, both objective and subjective financial literacy variables were positively associated with long- and short-term financial behaviors. In the age subsamples, subjective financial knowledge or confidence was more strongly related to long- and short-term financial behavior than either objective financial knowledge or subjective financial management ability in the younger age groups. In the older age groups, objective financial knowledge was more strongly related to long-term financial behavior than either of the other two measures of financial literacy.

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.

We examine improvements in financial knowledge for 8th-grade participants in our financial fitness camp, part of our multifaceted financial literacy program. Eighty-three students enrolled in the camp, and 59 had individual development accounts (IDA). We address several issues raised in the literature by focusing on low-income, predominantly Hispanic students, varying the treatment intensity, comparing outcomes for students in our IDA program with those who are not, addressing the potential endogeneity of IDA participation, and testing for selection bias. Financial knowledge increased by approximately 12 percentage points from camp participation. Standardized Language Arts scores, rather than treatment intensity or IDA participation, most affected gains in financial knowledge. There was no evidence of selection bias. Parents with high “present bias” were less likely to enroll their students in the camp, implying that integrating financial literacy education in the regular school curriculum will better serve students in such families.

Low- and moderate-income tax filers often receive refund and tax credit checks that easily total a fifth or more of their total annual income. This study uses data collected in 2009 and 2010 from 79 clients of a volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) program to compare filers’ estimates of their returns before the tax preparation process with their returns calculated by trained VITA volunteers. Most filers (75%) underestimated their refunds, and 52% underestimated by $500 or more. Hence, at least some portion of the refund arrives as an unanticipated windfall. Counseling and planning work with low- and moderate-income families should take these significant lump sum income events into consideration.

We conducted an annual survey of undergraduate students taking finance courses over the past 5 years (2009–2014). Our results showed that although more than 70% of students considered the financial planning profession to some extent, the percentage of students who had seriously considered it declined over time, despite the increasing number of new hires in the area. Our regression models showed that students with a higher level of related experience were more likely to show increased interest over time and that male students were less likely to change their minds regarding their decisions to become a financial planner. These results suggest that academic programs need to form stronger partnerships with the industry and to facilitate better communications with female students regarding the profession.

The purpose of this study was to explore personality determinants of financial satisfaction using the Metatheoretic Model of Motivation and Personality (3M Model) as a theoretical framework. Such a framework can help researchers identify traits associated with financial satisfaction and ultimately assist practitioners working with clients on debt management and wealth building. The study used data from a survey of university alumni who had taken consumer economics and/or personal finance at the undergraduate level. Although the study’s initial, fully mediated model is fragmented, the modified model offers interesting insights into the determinants of financial satisfaction. The findings suggest that trait characteristics such as need for material resources and emotional instability affect financial satisfaction. Furthermore, the findings indicate that financial behaviors (compound traits) are related to financial situation (situational traits) and financial satisfaction (surface traits).

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the extent to which homeownership contributed to household financial strain as measured by loan delinquency after the onset of the recent housing market crash, and to examine if the impact of homeownership on household financial strain differed for Black and White households. Using data from the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances, we found that, after controlling for other factors, a household's housing preferences had a potential effect on the likelihood of experiencing financial strain following the collapse of residential housing prices. In addition, Black homeowners were more likely to have experienced financial strain following the housing collapse than were White homeowners, regardless of the time period in which the home was purchased. The implications of the findings for public policy, personal financial planning and education, and further research are presented.

This study had two distinct purposes. First, to determine the predictors of financial stress among college students who sought free peer-based financial counseling from a large Midwestern university (N = 675). Secondly, to determine the effectiveness of the particular financial counseling center from a subsample of those who sought help (N = 97). Results of the regression analysis indicate that students more likely to experience financial stress include freshmen, those with low perceived mastery and net worth, and those with median student loan debt as compared to those with no student loan debt. Results of t-test analyses suggest that financial counseling had positive effects on subjective financial knowledge and financial attitudes and mixed effects on financial behaviors.

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.

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.

There are 19 million workers and retirees and $3 trillion of assets in state pension plans. However, questions have arisen about the long-run ability of the plans to pay promised benefits to retirees. Consequently, proposals have been made to reduce promised pension payments or alter other terms of the pension contracts. Yet another heretofore unexplored alternative is to reduce state pension plan management fees by moving from actively managed portfolios to low-fee passively managed accounts. Using state pension plan data for the 2003-2012 decade and returns from three alternative low fee portfolios, it is found that all states could have increased after-fee earnings and improved their long-run ability to pay retirees by moving to the low-fee investment accounts. While clearly relevant for workers and retirees in state pension plans, the findings also have implications for all investors regarding the ongoing debate between active and passive investment management strategies.

A variety of risk assessment questionnaires are used within the financial planning profession to assess client risk preferences. Evidence indicates that the average person overweighs losses relative to an arbitrary reference point. This paper evaluated risk assessment questions on how well they correlate with monetary loss aversion. Twenty-nine Western Texas residents between the ages of 27 and 56 participated in experimental research and filled out several risk assessment questionnaires. Two weeks later their levels of loss aversion were measured using monetary gain and loss scenarios. The individual risk assessment questions were placed into three categories: expected utility theory, prospect theory and self-assessment. Composite measures were created for within-group and between-group comparisons. Statistically significant correlations were found between monetary loss aversion and different composite measures. The results provide financial planners with a group of risk assessment questions that capture loss-averse preferences.

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 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.

Using cross-sectional data, we examined the financial information sources, financial knowledge, and financial practices of young adults, many of whom are first generation college students, ethnic minorities, and immigrants or children of immigrants. Participants (n = 1,249) were undergraduate students at a large regional comprehensive university. The general linear model results suggested personal financial information obtained from parents was positively associated with levels of financial knowledge and financial practices, and information obtained from other family members and college courses was positively associated with better financial practices. The findings suggest that parents and college personal finance courses may serve as positive inputs for financial socialization among young adults regardless of their demographic backgrounds.

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.

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.

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between saving goals and saving behavior from a perspective of Maslow's Hierarchy. Using 1998-2007 Surveys of Consumer Finance datasets, we analyzed responses given to an open ended saving reason question, and categorized responses into six saving goals. The retirement/security goal was the most frequently mentioned, and the self-actualization goal was the least frequently mentioned. We tested two models to ascertain whether the order of response differed in the likelihood of saving, measured as whether households spent less than income. Model 1 tested the effects of whether particular goals were given as the first response to the open-ended question, and Model 2 tested the effects of whether particular goals were given as any response. In both analyses, self actualization and retirement/security had the strongest associations with saving behavior.

Conflicts of interest (COI) are an ethical issue for financial planners because they impair professional judgment if not addressed. This article describes a quantitative, cross-sectional study of COI recognition in pending engagements and measuring the influence of time in practice and financial planning credentials upon recognition. Participants were 51 graduates of the M.S. degree from the College for Financial Planning. Participants were asked three questions regarding each of the six hypothetical situations of pending financial planning engagements. Each question provided an indicator of COI recognition. Time in practice and financial planning credentials were used as influence factors upon COI recognition. Results indicated high COI recognition involving role conflict and low recognition with family members as clients. Time in practice was related to increased COI recognition involving role conflict. Financial planning credentials were related to increased COI recognition with a business associate as client.

This study uses the 2013 U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances dataset to investigate differences in credit card use between Hispanic and White households. The sample includes 3,784 households, with 3,165 households headed by a White individual and 619 households headed by a Hispanic individual. The results show that the factors related to credit card use differ for the two groups. Risk tolerance, marital status, and education are significant in explaining credit card use for White, but not Hispanic, households. Income is significant in explaining credit card use among Hispanic, but not White, households. When accounting for race/ethnicity only through a dummy variable, researchers may be missing a part of the puzzle in exploring racial/ethnic disparities in financial well-being.

Guided by a proactive coping theory, this online, cross-sectional study examined whether income, savings, debt service-to-income ratio, reluctance to think about finances, locus of control, and financial management competency were related to financial wellness. Based on data from a United States sample (N = 1,039), results of hierarchical regressions indicated that financial management competency, internal locus of control, and savings were positively associated with financial wellness, explaining 43.5% of the variance. Results suggest that, rather than resources themselves, resource allocation and perceived usefulness of financial actions are most critical to financial wellness. Educators and practitioners can emphasize proactive coping through behavioral approaches to financial management that foster greater internal locus of control and financial wellness.

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Child Development Supplement and Transition into Adulthood, this study compared Whites, Blacks, and Latinos to identify racial and ethnic differences in bank account ownership. Having a bank account as a child was significantly associated with bank account ownership in young adulthood. Black children and young adults lagged in bank account ownership. Parental bank account ownership and family wealth increased the odds of bank account ownership for White children significantly more than for Black children. Financial independence, employment status, and educational attainment of young adults showed greater associations with bank account ownership than family background. Findings call for educational programs and policies to increase opportunities for the bank account ownership of minority youths.

This study used data from online focus groups collected from November 2014 to April 2015 to understand college students’ decision-making processes when borrowing money to finance their education. Data were collected using an online course management system. Results suggest that (a) students relied heavily on advice from parents, guidance counselors, and friends; (b) attending college was not possible without student loans; and (c) students knew very little about the loans they would be responsible for repaying. Recommendations for financial educators and counselors to help student borrowers make prudent decisions about education debt are presented.

To meet college student needs for financial counseling, it is important to assess why they seek counseling and the extent to which differing financial situations are tied to financial stress. This study examined these issues with a sample of 554 college students who participated in financial counseling and found financial problems in various situations were each linked to increased financial stress. Financial stress was positively associated with having student loans and other forms of debt and was higher for female students and lower for those having investments. From a needs assessment perspective, it is apparent that college students may be able to benefit more from comprehensive financial counseling than from financial advising that is tailored primarily to a single issue.

Using data from the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, this study evaluates the potential effect of using financial planners on household portfolio performance, which was measured by Sharpe Ratio. Results revealed that households that reported using financial planners demonstrated better portfolio performance than those that did not. This lends empirical support to claims that professional financial planning services provide value to clients. Implications for investors, financial planning professionals, and researchers are discussed. Considering the direct relation between wealth accumulation and portfolio performance, financial planners should explore ways in which to work with those with limited resources to help them realize the benefits of using financial planners and improve their portfolio performance as a result.

The impact of financial stress on college students can range from psychological distress to adverse academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify how resources and perceptions alter the amount of financial stress felt by college students and how this relates to academic achievement. Results from 2,236 Midwestern college students indicate that financial and life stressors, higher subjective financial knowledge, fewer financial resources, negative perceptions, and lower mastery are associated with higher financial stress. Financial stress was not associated with academic achievement, but financial stressors, objective financial knowledge, and financial resources were highly related to financial stress. Increasing available financial resources to students, in addition to providing opportunities to increase financial knowledge for students, would likely be associated with decreased stress and better academic achievement.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a professional designation affects consumer choice behavior within the area of investment decision making. Forty-six participants were endowed with real money and received hypothetical investment advice from a certified financial planner (CFP) Professional and a stockbroker. Among low-income households, advice from a CFP altered investor choice behavior within hypothetical education and retirement savings accounts. When participants made investment decisions using education funds and received advice from a CFP, the mean expected value of their investment choices was $43,913, compared to $25,870 given advice from a stockbroker. When investment decisions were made using retirement funds, the average expected value given advice from a CFP and a stockbroker was $53,424 and $33,207, respectively. If an investor was risk-neutral or risk-seeking, investment choices were improved when advice was rendered by a CFP relative to a stockbroker.

This study examined how retirement planning information search was related to retirement savings of working women. By controlling for sociodemographic variables, the study further explored factors associated with individual information sources for retirement planning. An online survey was developed to collect data from a national population, obtaining 591 valid responses. The results showed that women who learned about retirement planning through discussions with friends/relatives tended to save less in their personal retirement savings, whereas those who obtained information from financial advisors tended to save more. Personal income was positively associated with seeking information from financial advisors. The study concluded by discussing the implications for financial service providers, retirement plan marketers, financial educators, researchers, and policymakers.

This research examined the prevalence and amount of care-related out-of-pocket expenditures of family caregivers and the factors that influence this spending. Secondary analysis of 2007 General Social Survey (Cycle 21) data yielded population estimates for Canadians age 45 years and older. Thirty-five percent of respondents—1.2 million Canadians—reported care-related out-of-pocket expenditures, which amounted to almost $12.6 million. Caregivers who were more likely to incur these costs reported higher levels of stress, were caring for a family member or friend with more complex health conditions, were providing more intense levels of care, and lived further away from the care receiver. We find that care-related out-of-pocket spending is common among Canadian caregivers, that it can be substantial, and that relatively few caregivers receive financial supports that can defray these costs.

Financial software offers an appealing substitute for an investment in complex financial knowledge to help individuals make better financial decisions. Little is known, however, about which consumers use financial software and whether the use of financial software results in improved financial outcomes. Using data from the 2008 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79), we find that respondents with greater human capital and financial resources are more likely to use financial software. The use of a financial software program to calculate retirement needs is a stronger independent predictor of accumulated retirement wealth than calculating retirement needs without a computer aid and is surpassed only by cognitive ability as an independent predictor of retirement savings. Results suggest that financial software is used primarily by those that have greater endowed and attained human capital and may be a complement to (rather than a substitute for) financial literacy.

The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators of saving behavior in low- to moderate-income households within a framework of predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors. Data used were from a U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute for Food and Agriculture–sponsored multistate project. With a sample of 757 low- to moderate-income households and hierarchical logistic regression, results indicated that enabling factors and reinforcing factors reduced the significance of predisposing factors such as household income and financial knowledge on the likelihood to save. In the full model, significant predisposing factors included net worth, attitude toward saving, learned about saving from formal sources, marital status, gender, and race. Among the enabling factors, constraints on resources and lack of comfort with financial institutions were perceived as barriers to saving as well as unemployment. Of the reinforcing factors, concern for loss of benefits increased the odds of saving.

Using the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances panel data, this study examined changes in perceived and realized risk tolerance after the financial crisis. Households who perceived less risk tolerance were more likely to have reduced their portfolio risk and vice versa. Furthermore, households whose wealth decreased were more likely to perceive less risk tolerance and vice versa. Regression analysis revealed that change in risk tolerance as measured by the change in financial portfolio risk is related to perceived risk tolerance, education, life cycle stage, and employment status. Single households, or those households whose head is less educated, or self-employed or unemployed, may need financial advice to prevent them from reducing their portfolio risk in reaction to a financial crisis.

This study investigated the degree to which the financial risk tolerance of individuals was influenced by volatility in the U.S. equities market during the period of the Great Recession. Based on data from a valid and reliable risk tolerance scale and return information for the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 index, there does appear to be some associations between daily market volatility and changes in risk tolerance scores. Changes in risk tolerance scores were also calculated using short- and intermediate-term volatility measures. The relationships do vary, however, with evidence supporting the relationship only 64% of the time. Overall, changes in financial risk tolerance scores were found to be modest. Although not following hypothesized directions at all times, risk tolerance was not influenced by the length of volatility measurements.

In recent years, experimental psychology and behavioral economics have cast doubt on the quality and reliability of individual decision making, especially in complicated choice contexts involving risk and time. These factors imply that financial decision making is particularly subject to such doubts, which has generated calls for increased regulation based on behavioral science to help people avoid imprudent decisions regarding borrowing, such as those implemented by the relatively new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This article argues that such interventions are fraught with ethical problems based on the regulators’ inability to appreciate the complex, multifaceted, and subjective interests of borrowers and recommends alternative approaches to helping people make better borrowing decisions while respecting their personal interests.

This research investigates if ethical behaviors and personal finances are related using a large scale U.S. random survey called the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). Fifteen indicators covering both ethical and unethical behaviors are compared to net worth for people in their 20s and 30s, who are called Generation Y. Breaking rules, stealing, and being arrested are associated with less wealth in this generation. Results suggest that among people in their early 20s, there is little or no relationship between ethical behaviors and wealth. However, as this cohort ages, a positive relationship between acting more ethically and wealth emerges.

This study explored the relationship between financial literacy and the use of interest-only mortgages using data from the 2009 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). A series of analyses were conducted to investigate characteristics associated with the use of an interest-only mortgage as a primary mortgage, as compared to fixed-rate mortgage and adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) options. Consistent results indicate the individuals who incorrectly answered questions related to compound interest, mortgages, and diversification were more likely to be using an interest-only mortgage. Respondents with higher reported math skills were less likely to use an interest-only mortgage, whereas individuals with higher levels of financial confidence were more likely to be using one. These results reinforce concerns about a household’s ability to understand and evaluate complex mortgage products.

A large fraction of South African consumers are highly leveraged, inadequately insured, and/or own little to no assets of value, which increases their exposure not only to idiosyncratic risk but also to severe indebtedness and/or default. This scenario can present negative ramifications that lead well beyond the confines of individual households. Thankfully, it can also be remedied by well-tailored legal debt relief mechanisms. This article reflects on the uncertainties surrounding the consumer debt relief framework of the National Credit Act in an attempt to show why it is not up to the challenge of providing meaningful relief to debt-distressed consumers. Ultimately, a comprehensive review of the current framework in favor of a discharge mechanism on simple, stated terms is proposed.

This article reviews the theories and literature in intrahousehold financial decisions, spousal partners and financial decision making, family system and financial decision process, children, and financial decisions. The article draws conclusions from the literature review and discusses directions for future research and educational programs. Most financial education and counseling takes place at the individual level, whereas financial decisions take place at household and intrahousehold levels. Family members, spouses/partners, children, and others play a key role in individuals’ financial decisions. The article proposes the key programmatic implications for financial professionals and educators that need to be integrated into financial education and counseling. Understanding the unique dynamics of family financial decision making would help create effective educational and counseling strategies for the whole families.

This study analyzed the debt profile of low-income households before and after the Great Recession using the 2007, 2010, and 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). We used Heckman selection models to investigate three debt characteristics: (a) the amount of debt, (b) debt-to-income ratio, and (c) debt delinquency. Before and after the Great Recession, results from the selection stage showed the probability of holding debt for households increased as their income level increased (moving into less severe poverty categories); results from the outcome stage indicated households in the most severe poverty category (below 100% of poverty threshold) were less likely to meet debt-to-income ratio guidelines. Following the Great Recession, these lowest income households were more likely to have higher debt and debt delinquency problems.

This article uses a random digit dial probability sample (N = 328) to examine the relationship between credit card use behaviors and household well-being during a period of severe economic recession: The Great Recession. The ability to measure the role of credit card use during a period of recession provides unique insights to the study of credit behavior because of the knowledge that all respondents have the same macroeconomic constraint. Framed by the assumptions of the permanent income hypothesis and the life-cycle savings hypothesis, multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between credit card use behaviors and three measures of household well-being: emotional well-being, financial well-being, and general household financial condition.

Field experiments, which are a powerful research technique, are common in some fields, but they have not been widely used in studying the effect of financial and counseling planning interventions. Financial services can benefit from the expanded use of field experiments to explore potential causal mechanisms for the effects of financial planning and counseling interventions. This article describes the value of field experiments as well as the potential problems with the approach, in this context. Researchers and practitioners in financial planning and counseling should explore opportunities to conduct field experiments, especially in situations where studies can be carefully designed and implemented in a standardized way with a sufficient number of people and where valid measures are available.

Using the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, we found that 18% of full-time workers aged 35–60 years who were household heads expected never to retire. Expecting never to retire was more related to a failure to plan rather than a preference for working indefinitely. Most workers stating that they would never retire probably would have expected retirement ages younger than 67 years if they had planned for retirement. Evaluations of retirement adequacy of workers should carefully consider the meaning of a response of “never retire.” Financial advisors working with clients who state that they never expect to retire should assess whether that expectation is a preference or a reflection of the client’s failure to prepare for retirement.

Work and negotiation experiences were examined among early adolescents (12–15 years) through a survey (N = 157) and follow-up interview (N = 89) conducted in two Canadian cities. Key findings, based on a mixed-method research approach, were (a) gifts were the primary income source; (b) females completed more chores than males, and younger adolescents received payment for chores more than older adolescents; (c) discussion of negotiation rarely occurred between participants and parents or peers; (d) neither age nor gender impacted absence of negotiation; (e) those who had negotiated for more money reported satisfaction; (f) gender differences in negotiation strategies were present; and (g) age differences in beliefs about negotiator qualities were found. Consistencies and changes from extant literature were discussed.

This study investigated whether spending habits before and during the Great Recession predicted financial distress. Financial distress was defined as failing to make mortgage and non-mortgage loan payments on time. Data from the 2007–2009 panel of the Survey of Consumer Finances revealed that one’s prerecession spending habit did not seem to matter. Respondents who reported in the earlier wave that they spent more than income but had begun to spend less than income during the recession were twice as likely to become financially distressed. However, those who were spending more than their income during the recession were three times as likely to be financially distressed. Being in good health, having income certainty, and above average risk tolerance lowered the odds of financial distress.

Financial education is an important area of study due in part to the need for improved understanding of how to navigate an ever more complex financial decision-making environment, thus the need for effective classroom instruction. The purpose of this study is to examine a “teacher-as-learner” professional development program that is rooted in both professional development and adult education fields of study as means of providing financial education. This program educates teachers on their own personal finance, ultimately better preparing educators to teach financial literacy education. Results showed significant improvements in self-reported financial behaviors between pre- and posttests. Results suggest using contextual learning for teacher professional development because it benefits personal finances and successful teaching practices.

Money management is essential for financial health, and more research is needed to better assess people’s money management practices. Therefore, we factor-analyzed 205 scaled questions from previous money management measures to select the best items and examined their internal consistency and convergent validity. Our resulting 18-item Brief Money Management Scale and its factors (management of cash, credit, savings, and insurance) replicate and clarify previous relationships between types of money management and financial outcomes as well as personality and demographic antecedents. Furthermore, this scale is reliable and predicts participants’ hypothetical debt repayment behavior, suggesting concurrent validity. We discuss how future studies can use this multifaceted measure of money management to better understand the antecedents and consequences of different financial decisions.

This literature review seeks to map the state of research on the effects of digitization on personal financial behavior and management through a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. The findings indicate that current knowledge is primarily based on perspectives of actors in commerce and systems development. More research is needed on how personal financial behavior change in relation to digital technology, the vulnerability of children and adolescents, and the links between changes in credit behavior and indebtedness. Financial counseling could benefit from an awareness of young adults vulnerability as digital consumers and an extended perception of financial literacy that encompasses requirements of digital society. Policymakers need to be aware of the consequences of digital measurability.

This study uses the 2009 National Financial Capability Study dataset to examine the factors associated with information search behavior by consumers when applying for a loan. The results indicate that financial literacy, perceived financial knowledge, educational attainment, and engaging the services of a financial professional are positively associated with the likelihood of information search among consumers. The results also indicate that consumers from the traditionally underserved groups, who would benefit most from better information search, were the least likely to use it. The results of this study are important to consumers, educators, and financial practitioners. A discussion of the implications addressing the association between financial literacy, information search behavior, and household financial capability within the population is also included in this study.

Social media play a role in the lives of young adults (18–25 years old), but motivators and influences of this and similar sources on their money handling are not well-understood. This study examined their personal finance information source choices using a non-random online survey (N = 229). Results of structural equation modeling suggested that four personal financial execution antecedent factors (i.e., impulse control, financial planning, financial motivation, and financial organization) may influence their selection of information source and such choice may affect financial satisfaction. Young adults who sought social media and online sources for personal financial decisions belonged to a distinct group, whereas their choices were associated with financial satisfaction. This study suggests that financial institutions and financial advisors targeting young adults should consider their financial executive orientations and connect with them through effective information sources, including social media.

This study explored one aspect of household financial resilience by analyzing factors related to financial asset liquidity. Given that assets are classified on the balance sheet according to when their economic benefits are expected in time, we extend the asset allocation literature by modeling the allocation of financial assets to cash as a function of intertemporal motivations (i.e., future orientation). A sample of respondents was extracted from De Nederlandsche Bank Household Survey. Fractional logistic regression was used to model the proportion of financial assets held in cash. Consistent with theoretical predictions, future orientation was negatively associated with the proportion of financial assets held in cash. Implications for practice are discussed.

Many studies have investigated the correlation between climate change and economic growth. However, this study focuses on household saving, whereby growth may be correlated with climate volatility. This study conducts a dynamic panel analysis using data on Chinese provinces for the period of 2001–2009. Various indicators of climate volatility are employed to ensure robustness, and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach is chosen to reduce endogeneity. The estimation results show that in rural areas, temperature volatility is positively correlated with the household saving rate, but that the correlation is weaker in urban areas. This study suggests that first, to increase household welfare, risk-pooling insurance should be applied, and second, that rural areas should be the priority for development over urban areas.

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.

Retirement income planning has emerged as a distinct field within financial planning with the realization that risks change dramatically in retirement. The combination of longevity risk, increasing market risk triggered by taking distributions from assets, and spending shocks create new challenges. Wealth management has traditionally focused on accumulating assets without applying further thought to these differences happening after retirement. Retirees experience reduced capacity to bear financial market risk once they have retired. This calls for different thought processes from those typically included in traditional investment management. Risk pooling becomes an important retirement income tool combined with a traditional investment portfolio. Retirement income challenges and a framework for helping individuals develop more efficient and successful retirement income plans are discussed.

Many who want to save more for retirement are tripped up by short-run temptations. Yet, some can still achieve their goals by using commitment devices to limit suboptimal behavior. Defined contribution plans in the United States resemble a commitment device because they are framed as savings for the future and penalize early withdrawals. This study investigates whether defined contribution plans are particularly useful for households that value the future and exhibit self-control problems. We find that participation in defined contribution plans has a greater impact on wealth accumulation among households with hyperbolic preferences. Our results suggest that those who find it difficult to resist short-run temptation can achieve long-run goals through the use of less liquid accounts and automated savings.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether using a financial disclosure form in a controlled setting can influence consumers’ mortgage selection. This study used a 2 × 2 experimental design where participants were assigned randomly to a control or treatment group. Treatment group participants received a Federal Reserve Board document that contained information explaining the difference between an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) and a fixed-rate mortgage (FRM). All participants were presented with two distinct scenarios and were asked to determine the most appropriate mortgage for each. Logistic regression results suggested that receiving the Federal Reserve Board document does make a difference in consumers’ mortgage choice in hypothetical scenarios. Financial knowledge and Truth in Lending Act knowledge were also were important predictors.

The objectives of this study were to assess consumer knowledge of their health insurance plan and overall financial knowledge and to identify factors associated with consumer health insurance knowledge. A sample of taxpayers who had tax returns completed at a university-based volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) program was surveyed. More than 70% of respondents perceived their health insurance plan knowledge and overall financial literacy to be fair/good on a scale where the top choices were very good, excellent, and exceptional. The results of the binary logistic regression showed that those who were more likely to have high health insurance knowledge were U.S. citizens, not single, and reviewed their health insurance coverage at least once a year.

The purpose of this article is to assess the student teachers’ capacity and willingness to teach financial literacy in Flanders via on-site paper surveys of 368 final-year teacher education students. We argue that the Flemish teacher education program needs to be revised to introduce financial education in secondary schools. We find that revisions to the program can improve student teachers’ capacity and increase their willingness to teach for financial literacy. Moreover, student teachers support such reforms. Thus, policymakers and researchers can use this article as a guideline for revising teacher education programs with respect to financial education.

This article investigates the impacts of financial shocks on the role of the family home in asset portfolios of Australian households using longitudinal data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The life events considered are serious illness or injury, death of a spouse, fired or made redundant, and separation from a spouse. We use a static and dynamic Tobit models to assess the impact and duration of the life events on the portfolio share of the family home. The insights gained from this study may be important for financial planners, as adverse wealth outcomes may be hedged through better financial education, insurance products, or general financial preparedness.

Financial counseling plays an important role for low- and moderate-income Americans and deserves more attention from leaders in the field. As financial counseling has evolved, the providers have been challenged to find a model that is both borrower centered and sustainable. This article provides a diagnosis of the failures and challenges in the financial counseling field, as well as a discussion of steps through which the providers could optimally serve families in need. These steps include (a) enhanced funding of the industry as a result of a recognition by financial stakeholders that it would be beneficial for them if the counseling industry was markedly improved; (b) stronger training for counselors; (c) implementation of enhanced measurement tools so that both funders and consumer borrowers could choose their providers from an informed position; and (d) assertion of leadership by consumer advocates and the Consumer Financial Products Bureau in improving this industry.

This study presents a community-based financial literacy program offered to low-income families in the heart of Silicon Valley. Leveraging local financial institutions and organizations, it provided financial education and encouraged habit formation, hoping for lasting outcomes toward financial well-being. Program impact was assessed in the areas of financial knowledge gain, behavioral tendencies in financial decision-making, and self-reported personal finances. Participants showed significant improvement in key knowledge areas, with positive impact observed in behavioral tendencies such as financial goal setting. Improvements in financial outcomes were not significant. The results of this intervention illustrate that maintaining long-term impact and applying sophisticated evaluation methods present key challenges for community-based efforts focused on financial education.

The study investigates factors associated with mortgage usage and the share of income that Chinese use for mortgage payments. Using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Study, we found mortgage usage shows a hump-shaped income effect. Workers in government-controlled nonprofit institutions are more likely to use a mortgage to purchase a house because banks treat them favorably. Notably, government employees borrow less to purchase a residence because they have advantages by way of subsidies. Individuals who have attained higher education are more likely to use a mortgage and have a larger share of their monthly income devoted to mortgage payments. For housing investors, risk tolerance is positively associated with mortgage use but not with the share of mortgage payments in the household’s monthly expenditure.

This paper examines the relationship between self-reported health status and medical debt outcomes using data from the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. There were two outcomes of interest: (a) the likelihood of having any medical debt, which included 4,227 households and (b) the amount of medical debt (medical debt > 0), which included 631 households. The results from the multivariate models showed that fair/poor health status increased the likelihood of having any medical debt by 73% and was associated with an increase in the amount of medical debt among those with medical debt by about 77% (p < .001) compared to those who reported better health. Poor health status appears to impose a financial burden on some households.

Health and financial resources are two important resources when individuals experience stress. The conservation of resources (COR) theory was used to view how health and financial resources relate to stress. The purpose of this study was to test how the perceived accumulation and loss of financial and health resources influences general life stress and financial stress. Participants were recruited through Facebook and LinkedIn pages of the primary investigator and paper flyers posted in the breakroom of a New England financial institution. Additional participants were purchased through Qualtrics, a research panel provider, in order to increase the sample size. The sample consisted of individuals between the ages of 19 and 65 years. The data analysis explored the association between financial stress, general life stress, resources, and several demographic variables using the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) program. Respondents were primarily White, female, and averaged less than two dependents. Annual household income ranged between $50,000 and $100,000. Results indicate that health resources, along with being White, make significant contributions to the variance in general life stress. Financial resources, success resources, being White, and level of household income make significant contributions to the variance in financial stress.

This study sought to investigate household sociodemographic characteristics as predictors of patterns of health insurance premiums and medical expenses of consumers using the 2014 Consumer Expenditures Survey. This study found that age, being married, educational attainment, and log of family salary income were associated with higher family spending on both health insurance premiums and medical expenses. Government employment status was associated with lower spending on health insurance premiums and medical expenses. Findings from this research are informative for both households in determining health insurance premiums and medical expenses throughout the life course as well as financial advisors in personal financial planning and counseling focused on health care.

This article studies the financial decision-making behavior of U.S. families that have difficulties paying for their medical bills and investigate what alternatives they have to avoid filing for formal bankruptcy and what influence their motivation to do so. Using household financial and demographic information from the Health Tracking Household Survey in 2007 and 2010, this article finds that families with younger age members, minority ethnic background, more doctor visits, and without insurance made more diverse and severe choices to finance the payments before resorting to personal bankruptcy. Interestingly, households with better education seek more diverse but easier financing methods, suggesting that financial literacy may play a dual role in undertaking financial planning—strategic default and bankruptcy avoiding.

Using data from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study examined the association of financial status and body weight for retirement-aged men and women. The descriptive results show that more men (80.3%) were overweight or obese than women (77%). However, the prevalence of obesity was higher for women (46.3%) than men (39.2%), and obese women had significantly lower levels of income and net worth than those of normal weight and overweight women. The multivariate results indicate that poor financial status was significantly associated with high body mass index (BMI) for both men and women; however, poor health conditions played an even more important role than financial status in determining high BMI for men and women aged 51–64.

Financial stress is implicated in poor health and decreased Quality of Life (QOL). The purpose of this project was to assess the 2-year effect of a financial education program on the health of single, low-income women. A total of 30 women were enrolled and 20 continued through follow-up. Two years following intervention, women demonstrated a $8,026 increase in mean annual income and significant improvements in health-related QOL and hopefulness. Half of the participants lost weight, and while not statistically significant, mean weight decreased by 2.2 pounds. Trends in decreased fast food consumption were observed. The results suggest that financial education has a significant, sustained effect on the health and health-related QOL of single, women of low income.

This study investigated Millennials’ source selection while searching for financial information to improve financial well-being. Results from an online survey of 488 business students at a Western U.S. university showed that Millennials used multiple sources when looking for financial information, but only sources whose perceived attributes fit the seekers’ preferences were considered; respondents favored family, employer/university, and government sources. Associations between personal characteristics (personal financial well-being, financial issue involvement, financial health self-efficacy, gender, and perception of source attributes) and financial information source selection were examined. Findings suggest financial practitioners, universities, and employers can improve their “fit” as financial information sources for Millennials by cocreating financial information with them, tailoring the communication channels, and enhancing the accessibility of information.

This research examined how perceived economic mobility (PEM) relates to domain-specific behaviors of financial management, specifically cash management, credit management, and savings and investment, for a sample of 1,245 young adults age 18–34. Using data collected by an online survey administration organization, research results indicated a significant positive relationship between PEM and the financial behaviors of cash management and savings and investment. Control variables of income level, family of origin’s perceived (FOP) income level, age, gender, education level, and employment also showed varying levels of significance across the three financial behaviors. Findings, to be considered in financial policy-making, indicated significant interactions between PEM and FOP income levels for cash management and between PEM and current income for credit management.

Many Millennials (aged 18–30 in 2016) are struggling with financial capability and independence. As efforts unfold to address this issue by improving financial education, Millennials themselves can offer helpful family-centered ideas for children’s financial learning. As part of the Whats and Hows of Family Financial $ocialization project, this qualitative study explored the ideas of 126 undergraduate students enrolled in family finance classes at three institutions from three regions of the United States about how and what they intend to teach their future children about finances. Thematic content analysis and coding of interviews revealed four core themes: (a) “Communicating Family Finances,” (b) “Opportunities for Responsibility,” (c) “The Value of Hard Work,” and (d) “The Process of Saving.” These findings have implications for parents, future parents, financial counselors, financial planners, family life educators, financial educators, therapists, and researchers in improving parental financial education for future generations.

Families that have a child with Down syndrome (DS) are facing financial challenges due to the increased life expectancy and daily life dependencies that he or she experiences. This article uses pediatric findings to supplement child mortality impairment assumptions and proposes a combination annuity pricing model to explore an annuity solution for families that have a child with DS. A Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation model is constructed with features such as a fixed death benefit, return of premium, different premium payment patterns, and the widowhood effect factor. The results indicate that such a product is generally affordable for families that have a child with DS to cover their child’s longevity risk and increased dependency needs.

Medical bankruptcy refers to individuals with serious medical conditions who feel compelled to file for bankruptcy to seek relief from their medical debts. Noticeably lacking in the literature is a consistent, evidence-based criterion to define who may be classified as medically bankrupt. A more concrete definition would allow policy makers to understand the magnitude of the problem and allow financial counselors to better inform certain households about seeking bankruptcy protection when faced with medical bills. This study uses data drawn from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Eastern Washington District to create an empirical profile of bankruptcy petitioners with medical debt. We then identify those characteristics statistically associated with being “at-risk” of a medical bankruptcy to better understand and define medical bankruptcy.

This article argues for the establishment of a defined benefit and partially funded universal pension system. The characteristics of this system represent a publicly managed mandatory contributory pension plan and the coverage of its benefits for all Hong Kong elderly aged above 65. By applying a mathematical model which links up the periodic savings during people’s working life, level of interest rates, average length of time in retirement, and the amount of retirement benefit payments, we calculated the possible scenarios for Hong Kong to reform its pension system. Research results suggest that the proposed system will be financially viable and sustainable provided both the government and its citizens are willing to pay for it.

Credit cards have become a common method of payment for college students in China. It is important that they form good credit card usage behaviors and build a good credit history early in their financial life. Using data collected from 10 universities in China, results of this study found that being financially dependent on their parents is negatively associated with Chinese college students’ ability to pay their credit card bills. The study also found that students with a high level of financial knowledge were less likely to take cash advances on their credit card. Implications for financial educators and parents as well as policymakers were provided.

Concerns regarding the adequacy of retirement savings have contributed to the move to encourage better savings behavior. One area of research focuses on understanding the profile of individuals who believe they are preparing adequately for retirement. The current study uses data from a national survey of South Africans to determine how confident workers are about their future retirement income adequacy, and whether behavioral characteristics play a role in their perception of retirement readiness. This study highlights the role that behavioral factors play in perceptions of retirement income adequacy in an African developing market context. In particular, financial risk tolerance, future time perspective, good financial behavior, and self-assessed financial knowledge are all found to be positively related to respondents’ retirement confidence.

Using the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) panel dataset, this study investigated the relationship between subjective income risks and stock ownership of 2,386 households with a working head before and after the Great Recession. We used subjective income uncertainty as a proxy for subjective income risks. A two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation with an instrumental variables (IV) approach was used to reduce potential selection bias. The results suggested that households that were more likely to face subjective income uncertainty were less likely to hold stock assets in their portfolios. We confirmed this negative relationship between subjective income risks and stock ownership using tests of robustness.

We obtained 180 pre- and post-test surveys to investigate how an established financial literacy program may have increased financial knowledge of residents in a work release program in Augusta, Georgia. Paired t tests analyzed changes in subjective and objective financial knowledge, understanding of banking and credit, and financial attitudes. OLS regressions of pre- and post-test financial knowledge were guided by human capital theory to learn which program participant characteristics were associated with greater increase in knowledge and infer why. Education, age, and use of financial tools were significant predictors in the pretest. Controlling for pretest knowledge, there were significant, positive differences from pre- to post-test, regardless of race. Implications for further research and specific suggestions for financial education content for the incarcerated are provided.

This study investigated the relationship between retirement saving needs estimation and the amount of self-reported private retirement savings amassed by working-age adults in Hong Kong, China, by focusing on the mediating role of retirement saving needs estimation between retirement goal clarity and the amount of private retirement savings. Based on the data collected from a phone survey of 958 Hong Kong workers aged 25–64 years, we found that the retirement saving needs estimation was associated with the savings of individuals over 44 years old; furthermore, it mediated the association between retirement goal clarity and self-reported private retirement savings. The findings offer theoretical contributions for financial planning conceptual frameworks and provide policy implications.

Using data from the 2001, 2004, and 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this research examines the characteristics of households that invested in rental real estate during the 2000s. Given the tumultuous real estate market during that decade, rental real estate investment was investigated during the early part of the housing market boom (2001), the height of the boom (2004), and after the market began to decline (2008). Results reveal relative stability with slight investment increases in rental real estate (4.57% in 2001 to 5.00% in 2004 to 5.08% in 2008), and several investor demographic and financial characteristics consistently associated with the investment decision. Evidence of potential over-reliance on real estate investment by some households indicates that financial planners should work to educate clients who invest, or are seeking to invest, in real estate. Education would emphasize that overweighting portfolios with real estate could be deleterious to client’s wealth goals in times of slow rental or depreciating housing markets.

This study investigates the relationship between financial self-efficacy (FSE) and saving behavior within a sample of 847 U.S. pre-retirees aged 50 to 70 from the Health and Retirement Study. In accordance with the social cognitive theory of self-regulation, results revealed that FSE is positively related to saving behavior after controlling for sociodemographic attributes, financial characteristics, and saving motives. Understanding how FSE contributes to saving behavior is critical as older workers attempt to bridge the retirement saving gap. Financial counselors and planners can help this population save by cultivating and supporting clients’ FSE throughout the financial planning and counseling process.

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is the most frequently used dataset for research in this journal, but many researchers and readers do not fully understand some of the dataset’s complex details. This article provides insight into important issues that researchers and readers need to understand to accurately conduct and interpret SCF-based research. The issues addressed include the primary economic unit versus the household, identifying the respondent versus the head, limitations of variables in the survey, imputation and implicates, shadow variables, the public dataset versus the full dataset, weighting of analyses, and the use of replicate weights.

A sharp increase in Chinese house prices combined with the extraordinary lending growth during the 2000 s has led to concerns of an emerging real estate bubble and impairment of consumer financial well-being. This article studies real house prices relative to fundamental house values. Housing constitutes a large fraction of most household portfolios therefore affect household well-being, and its characteristics are in contrast to what prevails in most financial markets as arbitrage is limited, and hence correction toward fundamental values can be a prolonged process. Using a time-varying present value approach, our findings suggest evidence of bubbles in the Chinese housing market nationally and in representative cities using real-term data. We also find that price dynamics have an important role to play in determining house prices. Moreover, the results reveal that the dominant driving force of house price deviations from fundamental values might be the less than fully rational behavior of investors rather than fundamental factors. This seems plausible in an emerging market such as China.

Using the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances panel dataset, we investigate whether and how changes in perceived income and saving motives are related to demand for household savings in the United States after the Great Recession. Households that perceive their current income as lower, relative to normal years are less likely to save than those who view that their income is the same as the reference point. This result holds only for those who experienced a significant negative income shock during the Great Recession. Among five major saving motives, saving for an emergency is an important factor in explaining the likelihood of saving. This study suggests that financial planners and educators should pay close attention to the role of households’ income perception and saving motives and should account for the resulting potential psychological biases in households’ saving decisions.

This study tests whether risk tolerance mitigates the effects of credit card mismanagement on users' financial satisfaction. We used data from the Health and Retirement Study and found results showing that credit card mismanagement reduces the financial satisfaction of lower-risk-tolerance users only. The results also suggest that the psychic costs of credit card mismanagement (i.e., stress and anxiety), not the monetary costs (fees and higher interest rates), may be the biggest contributors to the dissatisfaction associated with credit card use.

Recent research demonstrates that personal mortality salience from annuity contemplation generates an avoidance response, reducing interest in purchasing annuities. However, theoretical models of mortality salience also predict an increased desire for investment in the future circumstances of surviving others (“symbolic immortality”), such as that provided by bequest provisions in an annuity contract. An experimental test confirms that those exposed to higher levels of personal mortality reminders exhibit a greater preference for an annuity paying lower income but with a bequest provision. Thus, the effects of mortality salience can drive annuity decisions, not only at the extensive margin (avoidance of any purchase), but also at the intensive margin (purchasing lower income by including a bequest provision).

This study explores the influence of parental warmth during adolescence on financial experiences and well-being across the transition to adulthood. Given the poorer financial outcomes and more complicated parental relationships reported by sexual minorities compared to their sexual majority counterparts, the present study examined the moderating impact of sexual orientation during emerging adulthood. The current study used three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent eHealth. Groups were categorized as identifying as either heterosexual (n = 4,337) or nonheterosexual (referred to as “sexual minorities,” n = 482), resulting in an overall sample size of (n = 4,819). Using a multiple group structural equation model, results indicated that while mediated by future financial expectations, parental warmth during adolescence positively predicted income and well-being during adulthood in both sexual minority and heterosexual individuals. Significant differences were found between these two groups. Parental warmth was a stronger predictor of later well-being in sexual minority individuals. Implications for practitioners are discussed including the need for further cultural competency related to sexual minority populations.

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 article investigates associations between confidence about financial knowledge and two outcome variables, financial behaviors and financial satisfaction. On one hand, subjective financial knowledge (confidence) is necessary to make proactive decisions, yet overconfidence has been associated with a range of negative financial behaviors and outcomes. Both types of objective and subjective knowledge may be related to critical financial behaviors and choices such as credit card usage which in turn may be associated with financial satisfaction, an important component of consumer well-being. This article analyzes data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study to examine how financial knowledge confidence relates to credit card behaviors and financial satisfaction. We use mediation and floodlight analyses to uncover relevant relationships between variables of interest. We find evidence that confidence is associated with healthy credit card use that contributes to financial satisfaction. We also observe strong interactions with knowledge to find that confidence is more strongly associated with credit card use and overall financial satisfaction as knowledge increases. Findings from this study can help financial educators and advisors to deliver the right mix of financial knowledge to better financial choices and behaviors.