July 19, 2011

The austerity program millions of Americans adopted at the onset of the Great Recession is officially over: consumer debt is on the rise again.

Before we run our personal debt back up to its ceiling, it’s a good time to examine the different ways people think about their credit cards.

First, the economists. They have a clear definition of credit cards. The act of buying something on a card and adding to a balance is known as “dissaving.” The opposite is also true. Americans, for example, cut up their credit cards with a vengeance after the 2008 recession. They paid down some $180 billion in revolving credit card debt between September 2008 and April 2011. This gave a big boost to their savings, as far as economists were concerned.

But regular folks naturally link credit cards to spending. Kim Cooper, a Philadelphia financial consultant, said she used to feel that paying down a credit card meant she could buy more shoes or shop at Lord & Taylor again – with her card. This common mentality indicates just how integral credit has become to our buying habits.

The problem comes when the bill accumulates and becomes a monstrous financial obligation. And according to new data, Americans are piling up debt: in May, revolving credit – primarily credit card debt – grew by $3 billion, or 5 percent, to $793 billion (still far below the August 2008 peak of $974 billion), according to the Federal Reserve.

Overall debt also increased, for the eighth straight month. This includes revolving credit as well as auto, student, boat, and other personal loans.

Cooper eventually paid off her cards, but understands why people get into debt. “When I paid down the bills, it was never part of my thinking that a zero balance was the goal,” she said. The goal for her was being able to afford the minimum payment. “That’s not the way to think about it,” she said. …Learn More

Money Culture

July 14, 2011

Hans-Peter Feldmann, winner of the prestigious Hugo Boss Prize for contemporary art, displayed the precise amount of his $100,000 prize in this wall of overlapping dollar bills on display at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Feldmann’s art often groups similar items found in daily life to unearth their meaning. “Bank notes, like artworks, are objects that have no inherent worth beyond what society agrees to invest them with,” the museum said. “At its core, this formal experiment presents an opportunity to experience an abstract concept — a numerical figure and the economic possibilities it entails — as a visual object and an immersive physical environment.”

The exhibit is on display through November 2.Learn More

July 12, 2011

Americans have squirreled away some $7.1 trillion in their retirement accounts. But once they actually retire, they don’t seem to know what to do with their money.

The U.S. income retirement system is in the throes of a foundational shift from guaranteed employer pensions to a system that puts most of the burden onto employees to make sure they have enough retirement income. I’ve been hearing recently about the heated debate on how Americans who are retiring are handling their finances under the new system.

Some worry that retirees are using up their personal retirement account (PRA) assets too quickly, while others believe they aren’t using the funds as retirement income, as intended when they were working and saving the money. By not spending it, they may be unnecessarily lowering their standard of living. …
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Field Work

June 23, 2011

In a May 5 Squared Away blog post, I provided a list of financial planners’ five favorite tools for helping people control their spending. In this post, I’m providing their motivational suggestions.

Here are the five tips, based on my informal survey of planners. Each tip includes the psychological rationale behind it.

Find the “Aha! Moment.”

Some clients respond when they see, in detail, how much they’re spending and what they’re buying. Bonnie A. Hughes, a northern Virginia planner, is a big believer in mild shock therapy. She’s had great success by showing clients how much their income would fall if they were laid off, divorced, or dropped out of the workforce. Or she shows them just how much they’ll need in retirement, and it’s usually a big number.

Reason: The Aha! Moment provides the self-motivation that clients must possess and that planners can’t provide. …Learn More

May 26, 2011

Consider these grim outcomes for financial educators:

• One study found that the seniors who had the least financial knowledge were most confident about their knowledge;
• The most successful educational tools – stock market games – send the message it’s okay to gamble;
• When Illinois required consumers to attend a workshop for certain types of mortgages, homebuyers avoided those mortgages;
• Scores for national financial literacy tests administered to high schools by the JumpStart program declined between 1997 and 2008;
• Soldiers exhibited worse budgeting behaviors after taking a financial course than before.

In the past decade, foundations, governments, and non-profits have poured millions into financial literacy efforts in grade schools through college and among low-income neighborhoods and specialized groups, such as homebuyers and the military.Learn More

May 10, 2011

The term “financial literacy” is kicked around by financial planners, bureaucrats, and academics. But how does the man on the street define the term?

In this funny video, the California Society of CPAs (CalCPA) interviewed people on the streets of Sacramento, California, on their views about financial literacy.

They also answer such burning questions as: “What’s scarier: thinking about retirement or running into a burning building?” “Spender or saver?” and “Why the hell did I buy that?”

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Behavior

May 5, 2011

Professionals trying to improve Americans’ financial literacy pour time and energy into developing school curricula that will help create a generation of financially competent adults.

But something else we can instill in our children may have a greater influence than education on their financial success later in life: self-control.

A recent study, led by researchers at Duke University and King’s College London and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the self-control children develop as early as age 3 – before formal schooling begins – is a powerful predictor of whether they will save more as adults or will be hooked on credit cards.

“Poor self-control in childhood was a stronger predictor of these financial difficulties than study members’ social class origins and IQ,” the authors concluded. …Learn More