Factors Influencing the Size of Student Debt

The overall purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of selected sociodemographic variables and students\u27 knowledge about their educational loans on the amount of total debt. The specific objectives were to: (1) ascertain students\u27 perception of knowledge about their student loans, as well as their actual knowledge about various aspects of their student loans including: when they first borrowed, interest rate, grace period, when payment will begin, amount of monthly payment, and their overall self-reported level of knowledge; and (2) ascertain the relationship between students\u27 sociodemographic characteristics and level of knowledge on total debt

Money Management Knowledge of College Students

This study describes the money management knowledge of college students and identifies the characteristics of students associated with the differences in that knowledge level

Financial socialization's impact on investment orientation and household net worth

This study investigates the role of financial socialization for investment orientation and household net worth. Combining consumer socialization literature with findings in the behavioural finance literature, survey data were analysed to (1) investigate the relationship among household net worth, financial socialization, indicators of investment orientation and socio-demographic investor characteristics; (2) examine the influence of socio-demographic investor characteristics and financial socialization on indicators of investment orientation; and (3) test whether financial socialization affects household wealth above and beyond socio-demographic and investment orientation factors. Parents emerged as a relevant socialization agent of investors, influencing investment regularity and household net worth above and beyond other factors. This result extends earlier findings about parents' role for a person's financial management and savings behaviour to the investment context. Based on our findings, educators may want to involve parents in their efforts. They may want to emphasize the importance of starting investing regularly at an early age and of continuing to increase involvement in investing over the years. Financial planners and financial counsellors may consider emphasizing these two practices for their clients and involve children of their clients when and where appropriate

Students\u27 Perceptions of Their Education Debt and Its Impact on Life After Graduation

Student loans comprise the primary source of financial aid funding for higher education. But how much do students know about the realities of loan indebtedness? This study evaluates data collected in winter 1996 from 443 graduating seniors at a Midwestem university. Its results diverge somewhat from those of some early studies, yet support other recent research. Many of the surveyed students were reportedly unaware of their total loan indebtedness and payment obligations (over- and underestimating debt payments); borrowed to support a better lifestyle ; and were unable to estimate realistically their post-graduation earnings and ability to meet their repayment obligations. The results suggest a need for greater educating of prospective borrowers and the assumption of a preventive posture on the part of those involved in the lending process

Not a Black and European-Americans question: how are investor behavior and perceptions related to race and ethnicity?

This paper explores racial/ethnical differences among investors’ risk tolerance, confidence, and asset ownership. The data for this study is derived from a national telephone survey conducted at a regional Midwest university. The data collection began by purchasing 7,500 phone numbers from Survey Sampling International. Potential households were selected by targeting phone numbers from the sample in geographical areas with average household incomes of $100,000 per year or higher. Results show that among higher income investors, African-Americans were less likely to invest in corporate stocks and bonds; Asian-Americans expressed particularly high investor confidence and had a preference for purchasing Certificates of Deposit (CDs); Hispanic-Americans expressed significantly lower risk tolerance and lower holdings of corporate stocks. These findings indicate that community-based financial education should be aware of these racial/ethnic characteristics and aim to tailor educational interventions to it, where possible. These findings offer valuable insights to educators, financial planners and financial 115 institutions offering these products

Investor information search

Few will disagree that information search is essential in making investment decisions, a high-consequence decision task. Yet, the sources of investor information have never been used as a segmentation base to study investment behavior. We analyze survey results of investors in the US using information search, demographic, psychological, and involvement variables. Cluster analysis shows five typologies for investor information search based on sources of information. We also discover the majority of investors perform moderate- to low-information gathering strategies. The 11 demographics variables were insufficient to describe the typologies, although we did find higher-educated male investors with higher earnings more likely to practice a high-information search strategy, confirming previous studies. Turning to the psychological and involvement variables, we develop distinct typologies and identify several significant predictors for the five investor groups. For the majority of investors, investment decisions present a considerable and unwillingly undertaken challenge, and this study concludes with a discussion of how to target these investor typologies with approaches grounded in behavior-change theory.Information search Investments Involvement

Financial behavior and problems among college students in Malaysia: research and education implication

For a majority of students, university attendance is the first time they have experienced financial independence without a parent's supervision. With the expansion of educational services in Malaysia, university or college students have become one of the important consumer market segments, for two reasons. First, this group has expanded purchasing power, with easily available educational loans. Second, this student segment of the population has better potential earnings than any other segment of the population. There has been limited study on financial behavior and problems among Malaysians, especially college students, since the concern over the role of young consumers is relatively new

Financial literacy and education research priorities

Twenty-nine scholars from public and private universities, non-profit organizations, and the federal government participated in a National Research Symposium on Financial Literacy and Education in October 2008 in Washington, DC. The purpose was to identify critical research questions that could inform outcomes-based financial education, relevant public policy, and effective practice leading to personal and family financial literacy. Following the symposium, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a comprehensive report. This paper summarizes the key findings and recommendations from the report and how researchers can use this information to extend the breadth and depth of research in the area of financial literacy and education. © 2009 Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education®