Friday, April 10, 2026

Plurality of Voters See No Difference Between Candidates as Best For Personal Finances

Mon, 24 August 2020  |  politics 

The latest Surveys of Consumers from the University of Michigan finds that only the youngest and poorest consumers favored Biden over Trump, as the best Presidential candidate for personal finances. The major finding, however, was that in nearly all subgroups more consumers thought it would make no difference to their personal finances whoever was elected; the exceptions were among the oldest and richest subgroups who gave Trump a slight advantage.

As might be expected, responses followed along party lines with three-fourths (75%) of Republicans favoring Trump as the Best... Read More

Social Security Turns 85

Mon, 24 August 2020  |  social security retirement 

As Social Security celebrates its 85th birthday in August, a recent AARP survey found that a majority of Americans (82%) say they will rely on the program at least somewhat for their retirement income. A large proportion, almost two-fifths (39%) said they will or do rely on Social Security as their primary income source for retirement.

The survey found that Social Security remains incredibly popular, with almost all respondents stating it is an important program compared to other government programs. In fact, over two thirds (68%) indicate it is one of the most important programs.... Read More

Retirement Savers Stay The Course

Thu, 20 August 2020  |  retirement 

Americans continued to save for retirement through defined contribution (DC) plans during the first half of this year despite economic stresses brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ICI’s “Defined Contribution Plan Participants’ Activities, First Half 2020.” The study tracks contributions, withdrawals, and other activity in 401(k) and other DC retirement plans, based on DC plan recordkeeper data covering more than 30 million participant accounts in employer-based DC plans at the end of June 2020. This edition ... Read More

Risk Tolerance Spikes Among Millennial and Gen Z Investors

Wed, 19 August 2020  |  stocks millennials Gen Z 

A new study by E*TRADE Financial Corporation found that risk tolerance among Millennial and Gen Z investors has spiked since the pandemic began. Over half (51%) of Gen Z and Millennial investors say their risk tolerance has increased since the coronavirus outbreak, 23 percentage points higher than the total population.

These younger investors are also moving out of cash and into new investment positions, with about one-third of investors under the age of 34 taking these actions compared to just 19% of the total population.

And they are trading more frequently. Over hal... Read More

Consumer Expectations Plateaued in July

Mon, 10 August 2020  |  inflation household finances 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York' reported household expectations regarding their employment prospects and their year-ahead financial situation slightly deteriorated in July after two months of gradual improvement. Other indicators, such as the expected growth in home price and in household income, remained steady at a considerably higher level than in March and April, but below their pre-COVID-19 levels. Median inflation expectations increased 0.2 points at the one-year and three-year horizons, respectively, while disagreement about future inflation also increased.

The Fed repo... Read More

Total Household Debt Declines For First Time Since 2014

Thu, 06 August 2020  |  debt mortgages 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that total household debt decreased by $34 billion (0.2%) to $14.27 trillion in second quarter of 2020. This marks the first decline since the second quarter of 2014 and is the largest decline since the second quarter of 2013.

Reflecting the sharp decline in overall consumer spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related social distancing orders, credit card balances fell sharply by $76 billion in the second quarter. This was the steepest decline in card balances seen in the history of the data. Auto and student loan balances were rou... Read More