MyMoney Resources - Researcher

Researchers have become increasingly interested in understanding the sources of heterogeneity in individual financial behaviors. In this paper, we examine how the Big Five personality traits are related to measures of young adults’ financial distress. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health in the United States, we find that conscientiousness is negatively correlated, and neuroticism positively correlated with financial distress. These correlations are robust to controlling for early life background and other demographic and socioeconomic factors. Young adulthood sets the stage for financial security in later life; as such, this study provides insight for lifelong financial wellbeing. Based on the empirical results, we discuss potential behavioral and policy interventions that can be used to improve financial wellbeing

Planning for Retirement is a new interactive tool of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help you make an informed decision about when to claim your Social Security benefits. The tool gives you a rough estimate of your monthly benefit and shows how your monthly benefit changes depending on the age at which you claim.

We provide new and robust empirical evidence that procrastinators behave differently than non_procrastinators for five important retirement_related financial behaviors. Empirically, we define a procrastinator as an individual who waits until the last day of their health care open enrollment period to make their plan election. Using three separate administrative data sets, we show that procrastinators are: (i) less likely to participate in a supplemental savings plan, (ii) take longer to sign up for 401(k) plans, (iii) contribute less, (iv) are more likely to stick with default portfolio allocations, and (v) are less likely to take the annuity payout option from their DB plan, especially when the plan is framed so as to make the investment features more salient. Further evidence shows that these findings are best explained by procrastination being the outcome of present_biased preferences, consistent with the predictions of leading economic models of procrastination.

Automatic enrollment has been widely embraced for raising employee participation in 401(k) plans. However, the empirical evidence is based on data with limitations that, up until now, have prevented researchers from extrapolating the effects of automatic enrollment to the broader population of workers. This paper reexamines the determinants of 401(k) participation and contributions in the presence of automatic enrollment using nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for 2006 through 2012. The results confirm previous findings that automatic enrollment is associated with a higher proportion of workers included in DC plans; however, automatically enrolled workers are less likely to contribute to their DC plans than voluntarily enrolled workers. Auto enrollment is also associated with lower employee contribution amounts and rates. However, the employers of auto-enrolled workers are more likely to contribute to their employees’ accounts than are the employers of voluntarily enrolled workers. Additionally, employer contribution amounts and rates are higher among workers who are automatically enrolled. Even so, the combined effect is that the retirement accounts of automatically enrolled older workers receive, on average, $900 less in combined annual contributions and have contribution rates that are 1.6 percentage points lower than those of voluntarily enrolled workers.

The purpose of the guidance is to encourage financial institutions1 to develop and implement programs to expand the financial capability of youth and build opportunities for financial inclusion for more families. The guidance also addresses frequently asked questions that may arise as financial institutions collaborate with schools, local and state governments, non-profits, or corporate entities to facilitate youth savings and financial education programs.

PISA 2012 is the first large-scale international study to assess the financial literacy, learned in and outside of school, of 15-year-olds nearing the end of compulsory education. It assesses the extent to which students in 18 participating countries and economies have the knowledge and skills that are essential to make financial decisions and plans for their future. The assessment highlights the importance of financial literacy, defines financial education and financial literacy, and discusses how the assessment was organized. It also offers an overview of the limited and uneven provision of financial education in schools in participating countries and economies, and describes the steps taken in some countries to improve financial literacy among students.

To understand the wide range of information sources consumers could be exposed to in making financial decisions, we commissioned a study of the size and scope of the financial information field. The results give an overall indication of the relative amounts spent in the U.S. on financial education and on the marketing of certain types of financial products. The report found that for every dollar put towards financial education, $25 is spent on financial marketing, which can make it difficult for consumers to find objective information.

Under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is responsible for performing outreach activities "designed to help customers protect themselves from fraud and other violations of the CEA." As part of this effort, the CFTC developed and tested a series of messages targeting investors who are prime targets for investor fraud. Focus groups were conducted and an online survey was distributed to test the messages. Findings from both phases of this research will be used to develop messages, tone, and imagery for the CFTC's anti-fraud outreach efforts.

With support from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (CFS) and the New York City Department  of Consumer Affairs Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) partnered on a pilot program to test the effect of  pairing of financial access and an average of one to two hours of financial counseling on the financial capability of a population transitioning off of public benefits in New York City