Investors\u27 Asset Allocations versus Life-Cycle Funds

Life-cycle funds, among the newest asset allocation fund offerings, are managed according to investors\u27 time horizons and risk tolerances. Partly in response to the appearance of these funds, we examined the relationships among the risk in individual investors\u27 portfolios, their financial-planning time horizons, and their risk tolerances. Generally, we found that portfolio risk increases as time horizon and willingness to take risk increase. This relationship held when we used willingness to take risk increase. This relationship held when we used multivariate analysis. Additional factors related to portfolio risk were found to be the investors\u27 expectations of a future economic downtown, age, education, and marital status

A Behavioral Life-Cycle Approach to Understanding the Wealth Effect

The somewhat surprising strength in consumer spending in recent years has focused renewed attention on the much-debated wealth effect, the notion that when individuals feel wealthier, they consume more. This study utilizes survey data to examine the wealth effect within the context of the behavioral life-cycle model of savings. The results indicate that the likelihood of households spending more when their assets increase in value decreases with the portion of assets held in home equity. This unexpected finding is due to homeowners responding to the perceived wealth gain from increased home values by cashing out their equity. The likelihood increases with the portion of assets held in stock outside of retirement accounts, but is not significantly related to the portion of assets held in stock overall. Moreover, households that have a full-time income earner, are homeowners, have more education, have a younger household head, or expect economic growth, are more likely to report a wealth effect. Households that utilize savings “rules of thumb” are less likely to report a wealth effect. These results can be used to improve the wealth effect specification in consumer demand models and assist firms to target consumer markets

Fueling the Credit Crisis: Who Uses Consumer Credit and What Drives Debt Burden?

Excessive household debt contributed to the worst recession in decades. Insights about borrowing and spending behavior can inform economic recovery forecasts, policy decisions, and financial education. This study identifies life cycle and credit attitude as key determinants of who uses debt. Younger households are more likely to borrow for consumption, as are those who believe that it is all right to borrow to purchase luxury goods or cover living expenses. Furthermore, households that condone borrowing for these purposes have a higher consumer debt burden. Debt capacity (or creditworthiness) and financial discipline are also significant factors in determining household debt use

Risk Aversion Measures: Comparing Attitudes and Asset Allocation

Households\u27 reported willingness to take financial risk is compared to the riskiness of their portfolios, measured as risky assets to wealth. Overall, their portfolio allocations are reliable indicators of attitudes toward risk, demonstrating an understanding of their relative level of risk taking. Multivariate regression analysis using multiply imputed data from the 1989 Survey of Consumer Finances indicates that households generally exhibit decreasing relative risk aversion. Further, investment in risky assets is significantly related to socioeconomic factors, attitude toward risk taking, desire to leave an estate, and expectations about the adequacy of Social Security and pension income

Perceived and Realized Risk Tolerance: Changes During the 2008 Financial Crisis

Using the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances panel data, this study examined changes in perceived and realized risk tolerance after the financial crisis. Households who perceived less risk tolerance were more likely to have reduced their portfolio risk and vice versa. Furthermore, households whose wealth decreased were more likely to perceive less risk tolerance and vice versa. Regression analysis revealed that change in risk tolerance as measured by the change in financial portfolio risk is related to perceived risk tolerance, education, life cycle stage, and employment status. Single households, or those households whose head is less educated, or self-employed or unemployed, may need financial advice to prevent them from reducing their portfolio risk in reaction to a financial crisis

Accumulating and Spending Retirement Assets: A Behavioral Finance Explanation

Increasing uncertainty surrounding social security benefits and public sector pension plans is pushing retirement savings into the spotlight. This study finds that education, financial discipline, and financial sophistication increase the likelihood of participating in a pension or an IRA/Keogh plan. Financial distress decreases the likelihood of setting aside additional funds in an IRA/Keogh plan. Further, the likelihood that an eligible individual will decline an offered pension plan decreases with education and financial discipline and financial sophistication. Controlling for health and marital status, the choice to annuitize retirement assets decreases with age and the desire to take risk

Weather and Financial Risk-Taking: Is Happiness the Channel?

Weather variables, and sunshine in particular, are found to be strongly correlated with financial variables. I consider self-reported happiness as a channel through which sunshine affects financial variables. I examine the influence of happiness on risk-taking behavior by instrumenting individual happiness with regional sunshine, and I find that happy people appear to be more risk-averse in financial decisions, and accordingly choose safer investments. Happy people take more time for making decisions and have more self-control. Happy people also expect to live longer and accordingly seem more concerned about the future than the present, and expect less inflation

SASB: A Pathway to Sustainability Reporting in the United States

Sustainability reporting may be gaining in popularity around the world, but U.S. companies lag behind their peers in adoption. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board\u27s (SASB) new integrated standards may be just the ticket to getting U.S. companies on board. This article discusses the advantages of reporting under SASB standards and examines those standards in detail. It concludes with a comparison of the SASB standards to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), the other leading worldwide frameworks for sustainability reporting

Fueling the Credit Crisis: Who Uses Consumer Credit and What Drives Debt Burden?

Excessive household debt contributed to the worst recession in decades. Insights about borrowing and spending behavior can inform economic recovery forecasts, policy decisions, and financial education. This study identifies life cycle and credit attitude as key determinants of who uses debt. Younger households are more likely to borrow for consumption, as are those who believe that it is all right to borrow to purchase luxury goods or cover living expenses. Furthermore, households that condone borrowing for these purposes have a higher consumer debt burden. Debt capacity (or creditworthiness) and financial discipline are also significant factors in determining household debt use.

The Evolution of Sustainability Reporting

Businesses are increasingly motivated to address sustainability issues and related risks. Several factors have driven this heightened awareness, including regulation, pressure from investors and customers, an internal commitment to environmental responsibility, a desire to remain competitive, and the valuable goodwill that these activities generate. Disclosure requirements are transitioning from voluntary to mandatory as sustainability reporting becomes required - not only by regulators, but also by stakeholders