Hypothetical questions were used with 252 students at two universities to elicit values of relative risk aversion and of the elasticity of marginal utility with respect to consumption. Conceptually, the magnitude of these two utility function parameters are plausibly similar, but there was not a...

The relationship between meeting the Capital Accumulation Ratio Guideline and retirement adequacy was investigated. About 63% of the households had a consistent relationship between meeting the 25% ratio guideline and being adequately prepared for retirement, with 46% of households both meeting...

This article focuses on the effect of race and ethnicity on financial risk tolerance. Blacks and Hispanics are less likely to be willing to take some financial risk but more likely to be willing to take substantial financial risk than Whites, after controlling for the effects of other variables....

Using six Survey of Consumer Finances cross-sectional datasets representing the years 1983-2001, this study investigates changes in financial risk tolerance levels over time. Logit analyses are performed to test changes in risk tolerance, controlling for respondent and household characteristics....

1. The typical treatment of inflation in retirement planning textbooks is too complex and is not reasonable in terms of the amount to contribute the first year being dependent on the inflation rate assumption.2. Economists typically put all amounts and interest rates in inflation-adjusted terms,...

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...

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 data, we analyzed responses given to an open-ended saving reason question, and categorized responses into six...

About 20% of U.S. households are credit constrained. This research analyzes credit constraints among those who have applied for credit and controls for the effects of past credit behavior on being credit constrained. It is the first to identify the impact on being credit constrained of being...

We examine the effects of self-control mechanisms on saving behavior using the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), following the assumptions of research that analyzed the 1998 SCF. Self-control mechanisms include saving goals, foreseeable expenses, and saving rules. We find a positive effect...

Consumers face many decisions involving risk, yet some researchers claim that consumers cannot make rational decisions when risk is involved, even when full information is available. A simple normative analysis of decisions about insurance deductibles is presented. Implications for consumer...