The purpose of this study was to examine the likelihood of consumers hiring a financial planner based on race and gender utilizing an experimental design. Using a sample of Black and White MTurk respondents, cumulative logistic regression was employed to determine the effects of race and gender on the likelihood to hire a financial planner. Findings suggested that, overall, consumers did not have racially biased preferences when hiring a financial planner. However, they did express a preference for hiring female planners over male planners. Financial planning firms can use these findings to strengthen their support for and recruitment of women financial planners, as well as address concerns of racial bias amongst consumers.

Financial literacy scales are often used as a diagnostic tool to assess financial knowledge levels among various populations, although few of them have undergone empirical testing. This study utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a sample of Chinese rural migrant workers to identify the underlying structure of a financial literacy scale and its psychometric properties. EFA reduced the 23 items to 5 factors that explain for 69.08% of the variance in financial literacy. Five factors are identified that are daily money management, math skills, saving and borrowing, inflation, and long-term investment. Findings suggest that practitioners who work with migrant workers or groups with lower income, lower educational levels can use this instrument to assess financial literacy levels and explore interventions that improve specific areas of financial knowledge.

The purpose of this article is to utilize decision tree (DT) analysis to examine the relationship between income level, financial satisfaction, financial confidence, financial knowledge, and several demographics with a goal of better understanding desirable financial behavior. The emphasis of this analysis is focused particularly upon better understanding the role of financial knowledge in desirable behavior outcomes. DT analysis is most useful when an analysis includes numerous variables and solving problems where the cumulative learning process is inherent. Our DT analysis of four FINRA National Financial Capability datasets (2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018) suggest that financial knowledge is a relevant variable only under specific circumstances and for respondents with relatively higher income levels. Key variables in the DT analysis included income level and financial satisfaction.