We study an investment experiment conducted with a representative sample of German households. Respondents invest in a safe asset and a risky asset whose return is tied to the German stock market. Experimental investments correlate with beliefs about stock market returns and exhibit desirable...

This study found that people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) displayed financial risk aversion that varied across the seasons as a function of seasonally changing affect. The SAD-sufferers had significantly stronger preferences for safe choices during the winter than...

This paper employs subjective stock market expectation responses from Health and Retirement Survey as a proxy for stock market optimism of American households. I first ask if individuals are inert in terms of forming their optimistic stock market views. Second I analyze the impact of optimism on...

Using data on identical and fraternal twins' complete financial portfolios, we decompose the cross-sectional variation in investor behavior. We find that a genetic factor explains about one third of the variance in stock market participation and asset allocation. Family environment has an effect...

This paper provides a short overview of the stylized facts of household finance that relate to investors and their investment decisions. Emphasis is given to mistakes made by individuals, although evidence suggests all categories of market participants are prone to the same biases. The paper...

Using longitudinal data from PSID, we show the positive relation between labor income and the equity share of financial wealth is stronger for those who have a higher persistence in shocks to permanent labor income. The results support the hypothesis that the cross sectional variation in...

Formal dynamic analyses of household portfolio choice in the literature focus on holdings of equity and a risk-free asset or bonds of different maturities, neglecting the interdependence of the decisions to invest in equity, short-term and longterm bonds made by households. Data from the Survey...

Life events may alter the circumstances and life trajectory, depending on their magnitude, duration and whether or not it was foreseen. The responses to these life events are likely to be influenced by personal appraisal of the event, coping skills, access to effective support networks,...

This paper is concerned with the use of currently available technology to provide individuals, financial advisors and pension fund financial planners with detailed prospective financial plans tailored to an individual's financial goals and obligations. By taking account of all prospective cash...

This paper provides evidence that a change in the surrounding risk-taking environment, via increased casino access, affects investors' subsequent willingness to take portfolio risk. Using the initial legalization and opening of commercial casinos in the United States as a quasi-natural...