MyMoney Resources - Researcher

Making portfolio allocation decisions can be difficult for American households who lack interest or experience in financial matters. Service providers and 401(k) plan sponsors have introduced new plan design approaches and investment products, such as target-date funds, that can simplify savings and investment choices for defined contribution (DC) plan participants. Some participants invest in the funds on their own; some are defaulted into the fund by plan sponsors through mechanisms such as automatic enrollment, so it is important to understand how knowledge and awareness may differ between active and passive investment decisions. Also, DC plan participants often invest in other assets within their retirement accounts, a phenomenon known as “mixed” target-date investing. This paper seeks to better understand the determinants of participant portfolio allocations to target-date funds. The authors use focus group discussions and survey evidence linked to 401(k) administrative data. They explore rational motivations for portfolio decisions, psychological elements such as trust, and the relationship between financial knowledge and portfolio choice. The current version of this paper presents a preliminary analysis of the survey data and the authors’ focus group findings.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Take Charge America Institute at the University of Arizona, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis invited a small group of researchers and practitioners to discuss how to improve the evaluation and metrics of youth financial education programs. The meeting focused specifically on youth — which we defined as individuals under the age of 25 – in an effort to distinguish this effort from others that have discussed financial education research more broadly. The goal for the meeting was to help create a research agenda that would move the field towards the development of clearly defined outcomes for youth financial education, metrics for capturing ROI, and quality standards for curriculum and delivery that would serve as "best practices" for educators seeking to offer effective financial education interventions.

Abstract: The lack of property tax escrow accounts among subprime mortgages causes borrowers to make large lump-sum tax payments that reduce liquidity. Different property tax collection dates across states and counties create exogenous variation in the time between loan origination and the first property tax due date, affording the opportunity to estimate the causal effect of loan-level exposure to liquidity reductions on mortgage default. We find that a nine-month delay in owing property taxes reduces the probability of first-year default by about 4 percent, or about one-third of the effect of a reduction in equity from 10 percent to negative 20 percent.

This report was prepared to provide background on the “Bank On” model, a new approach for expanding access to safe, affordable financial services for unbanked households. The purpose of this report is to describe the landscape of Bank On programs, their origins, and their context within a broader financial access field. The report provides basic information about Bank On programs that currently exist, including information about program structure, partnerships, and funding as well as an assessment of successes, challenges, special considerations and gaps in the field. Information for this report comes from several sources: a Bank On program survey, research and information gathered for NLC’s publication, Bank On Cities: Connecting Residents to the Financial Mainstream, research and analysis from CFED’s forthcoming publication on the role of financial institutions in Bank On programs, conversations with Bank On program staff and research from experts in the field, including the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), the New America Foundation, the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and others. The report describes the overall financial access field, the emergence and growth of Bank On initiatives, details about the structure of existing programs, direct and indirect benefits and outcomes, key components of successful programs, challenges facing the Bank On field, and opportunities for expanding the reach and effectiveness of Bank On within the context of comprehensive financial access initiatives.

Using credit report records and data collected from several household surveys, we analyze changes in household debt and saving during the 2007 recession. We find that, while different segments of the population were affected in distinct ways, depending on whether they owned a home, whether they owned stocks, and whether they had secure jobs, the crisis’ impact appears to have been widespread, affecting large shares of households across all age, income, and education groups. In response to their deteriorated financial situations, households reduced their average spending and increased their saving. This increase in saving_at least in 2009_did not materialize through an increase in contributions to retirement and savings accounts. If anything, such contributions actually declined on average during that year. Instead, the higher saving rate appears to reflect a considerable decline in household debt, as households paid down mortgage debt in particular. At the end of 2009, individuals expected to continue increasing their saving and paying down of debt, which is consistent with what we have observed so far in 2010. In contrast, consumers were pessimistic about the availability of credit, expecting it to become harder to obtain during 2010.

Abstract: The widespread use of credit scoring in the underwriting and pricing of mortgage and Consumer Credit has raised concerns that the use of these scores may unfairly disadvantage minority populations. A specific concern has been that the independent variables that comprise these models may have a disparate impact on these demographic groups. By "disparate impact" we mean that a variable's predictive power might arise not from its ability to predict future performance within any demographic group, but rather from acting as a surrogate for group membership. Using a unique source of data that combines a nationally representative sample of credit bureau records with demographic information from the Social Security Administration and a demographic information company, we examine the extent to which credit history scores may have such a disparate impact. Our examination yields no evidence of disparate impact by race (or ethnicity) or gender. However, we do find evidence of limited disparate impact by age, in which the use of variables related to an individual's credit history appear to lower the credit scores of older individuals and increase them for the young.

Abstract: While a substantial literature has examined the causes of mortgage foreclosure, there has been relatively little work on the consequences of foreclosure for the borrowers themselves. Using a large sample of anonymous credit bureau records, observed quarterly from 1999Q1 through 2010Q1, we examine the credit experiences of almost 350,000 borrowers before and after their mortgage foreclosure. Our analysis documents the substantial declines in credit scores that accompany foreclosure and examines the length of time it takes individuals to return their credit scores to pre-delinquency levels. The results suggest that, particularly for prime borrowers, credit score recovery comes slowly, if at all. This appears to be driven by persistently higher levels of delinquency on Consumer Credit (such as auto and credit card loans) in the years that follow foreclosure. Our results also indicate that the experiences of individuals whose mortgages entered foreclosure from 2007 to 2009 have followed a similar path to borrowers foreclosed earlier in the decade, though post-foreclosure delinquency rates for the recently foreclosed have been higher and, consequently, credit score recovery appears to be taking longer.

Doorways to Dreams Fund (D2D) is working to develop and test video games attractive to low-income and minority adults that will provide training in critical financial skills to improve financial decision-making. During the last year, D2D has conceived, developed and delivered the third and fourth titles in its growing library of financial literacy casual video games: Farm Blitz and Bite Club. In Farm Blitz, players take on the role of a farmer who must harvest crops to generate earnings, manage debt, save money, and weather unexpected emergencies. Farm Blitz is designed to focus players' attention on how high-interest, short term debt can undermine efforts to build long term savings. Bite Club, which is inspired by one of the most popular casual games of all time, Diner Dash, offers players a simulated game experience in which they face the real-world tension between managing debt payments and current spending needs on the one hand, and saving for the long-term goal of retirement on the other. Players manage a "day club" for vampires and must pay off student and credit card debt, buy club upgrades, and save for retirement one of three retirement outcomes. Like D2D's other financial entertainment titles, Farm Blitz and Bite Club were made with and for low-income adults and evaluation is integrated into the development process. Following development, D2D completed preliminary effectiveness testing with 84 low-income adults across six locations in the US. While only small samples, each game generated a significant increase in financial skills self-confidence and knowledge.

A substantial fraction of children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI-child) benefits for disability apply to move directly onto the SSI-adult program without attempting to enter the labor market. Thus, most SSI-children are aging into what is likely to be a permanent life on the SSI-adult program or, in the event of denial of SSI-adult benefits, turning to other forms of social welfare. Once this transition is complete, very few seek employment while receiving SSI-adult or other benefits. This is costly to both the beneficiaries who live their lives at or near the poverty threshold and to taxpayers who are funding the benefits. The cost of providing such a low level of economic well-being to a growing number of young adults has raised concerns among policymakers and resulted in a large scale attempt by the Social Security Administration to support work among these young adults. There are many reasons why the vast majority of youths and young adults with disabilities are not investing in work. This project focuses on documenting evidence with respect to one of these barriers to work, the financial incentives to work for youth aging onto the SSI–adult program. Specifically, it produces a computation algorithm designed to determine the returns to work, including the value of wages and the eventual value of Social Security Disability Insurance benefits once the quarters of coverage requirement is met, for young adults receiving SSI–adult benefits. Using these algorithms it examines the financial incentives/disincentives of working for young adults on the SSI program.

This paper investigates the effectiveness of both videos and narratives in improving people's understanding of five basic concepts in financial planning: (1) compound interest; (2) inflation; (3) risk diversification; (4) tax treatment of retirement savings vehicles; and (5) employer matches of defined contribution savings plans. To that end the authors have administered a quiz about these concepts in the American Life Panel to establish a baseline of what respondents understand about these concepts. Next, in a number of waves, respondents were shown narratives and videos related to the five concepts and the quizzes were administered again. They find significant improvements in understanding of these concepts in comparison with a control group that was not shown any material. They do not find a difference between videos and narratives in terms of effectiveness.