Financial Counseling, Financial Literacy, and Household Decision Making

Cognitive Abilities and Household Financial Decision Making

We analyze the impact of cognitive skills on two specific examples of consumer financial decisions where suboptimal behavior is well defined: first, the use of a credit card for a transaction after making a balance transfer on the account, and second, cases where individuals are penalized for inaccurate estimation of the value of one’s home on home equity loan or line of credit application. We ...

Financial Literacy, Retirement Planning, and Household Wealth

There is ample empirical evidence documenting widespread financial illiteracy and limited pension knowledge. At the same time, the net worth distribution is heavily dispersed and many workers arrive on the verge of retirement with little or no personal wealth. This paper is the first to investigate the relation between financial sophistication and household net worth relying on specific measure...

Psychology, Financial Decision Making, and Financial Crises.

It is understandable that people ask how the current financial crisis could happen. As the market actors appear irrational, it is also understandable that people—lay people and experts alike—believe that psychological factors play a decisive role. Is there evidence for such a role, and what is the evidence? This monograph reviews, evaluates, and discusses research—primarily psychological resear...

What Explains the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy? The Role of Household Decision Making.

Using newly collected data from the RAND American Life Panel, we examine potential explanations for the gender gap in financial literacy, including the role of marriage and who within a couple makes the financial decisions. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition reveals the majority of the gender gap in financial literacy is not explained by differences in the characteristics of men and women-but rather ...

Policy Applications of Behavioral Insights to Household Financial Decision-Making Behavioral Science and Policy Symposium Financial Decision-Making Working Group