2013 Conference

Financial Services

Financial Services

In the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances, females were more financially knowledgeable than the male in 46% of mixed-sex couple households, a proportion that was slightly lower than the proportion in 1992 (47%). In households with a net worth in the top decile for mixed-sex couples, females in 2010 were more financially knowledgeable than the male in only 19% of the  Based on a multivariate logistic regression, we found that (1) the more educated spouse/partner is likely to be the more knowledgeable one, and (2) the likelihood of the female being more knowledgeable than the male decreases as net worth increases from zero and as net worth decreases below zero. The effect of the employment status of the male and female  suggests that the choice of the respondent is not related to availability of the spouse/partner to be interviewed, as females are more likely to be the respondent if both are employed than if the male only is employed.  Even though females are the respondents, and thus presumably financially more knowledgeable, in almost half of mixed sex couple households, clearly males are still much more likely to be considered the knowledgeable spouse/partner for households in the target market for financial services companies, such as households with higher incomes or financial assets. Financial educators and advisors in financial service companies should attempt to work with both partners in couple households, as death or divorce may leave the less informed partner in a bad situation.