Kyoung Tae Kim

University of Alabama | UA · Department of Consumer Sciences

While there is growing empirical attention to the factors affecting the use of Alternative Financial Services (AFS), outcomes of use of AFS are not fully understood. We examined the relationship between AFS use and financial anxiety, with a role of financial knowledge on the association. Using the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, AFS use w...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the racial/ethnic differences in mobile payment use and to explore the contributing factors to the differences. Design/methodology/approach This study used the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) dataset to examine racial/ethnic disparities in mobile payment use. Logistic regression a...

This study explores gender differences in financial knowledge overconfidence among older adults using the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We find that older females have relatively lower objective financial knowledge than do older males, while they evaluate themselves to be as financially knowledgeable as older males. Further, several measu...

This study used data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study to investigate the association between financial hardship and retirement planning behaviors. Results from logistic regressions showed that respondents with high difficulty making ends meet were more likely to calculate retirement needs and more likely to own a non-employer spons...

This study explores the association between financial knowledge and financial fragility. Data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study were used to create an index of financial fragility. Relationships between this index and three different measures of financial knowledge were assessed. To mitigate potential endogeneity in the financial kn...

This study explores financial knowledge patterns from 2009 to 2018, focusing on objective and subjective knowledge, overconfidence in financial knowledge, and “Don’t know” responses. We used four waves of National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) datasets. Objective financial knowledge was lower in 2018 than in 2009, and the proportion of individu...

Investment literacy and cryptocurrency investment 2 Investment literacy, overconfidence and cryptocurrency investment Abstract Cryptocurrency has been increasingly popular with investors. Using the 2018 National Financial Capability Study Investor survey, we examined the association between investment literacy and cryptocurrency investment. About 1...

Research on the link between debt and financial stress is emerging. This study was one of the first attempts to examine the association between debt delinquency and financial stress and the moderating role of financial capability in the association. Delinquencies in three types of debts were examined: (a) mortgage, (b) credit card, and (c) student...

This study explores financial knowledge patterns from 2009 to 2018, focusing on objective and subjective knowledge, overconfidence in financial knowledge, and "Don't know" responses. We used four waves of National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) datasets. Objective financial knowledge was lower in 2018 than in 2009, and the proportion of individu...

This study leverages two national datasets to assess the changing value perceptions of higher education. Human capital and social contract theories are used to frame the analysis and discussion around the shifting perceptions. The study finds that, in 2016, approval rates for education borrowing dropped to the lowest level since 1992. Respondents w...

This study investigates retail investors’ behavior when the US stock market dropped precipitously by 10% in early February 2018. Results show that investors with higher investment literacy were more likely to buy additional stocks and less likely to sell their stocks, which indicates that they expected a quick recovery of the market. We also find t...

Financial knowledge is often referred to as the key to improving one’s financial decisions. Because of the evident racial/ethnic disparities in wealth, income, and financial wellbeing, it is important to understand the differences in the level of financial knowledge as well. This study examined whether there is a racial/ethnic gap and to understand...

Using a sample of 1,215 US retail investors, we provide evidence on the effect of investment literacy and of investment literacy overconfidence on the likelihood of purchasing securities on margin, and also, among those who had purchased securities on margin, the likelihood of experiencing a margin call. Based on multivariate analyses, the likeliho...

Thirty-three among 441 research articles published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues during the past decade (2010-2019) examined financial behavior. Through content analysis, we describe what these studies have discovered and discussed. Savings, wealth, and family issues were the keywords chosen most frequently. Studies primarily impleme...

This study examines effects of religion on US households’ investment decisions, with focusing on the two channels; individual religious belief and local religious culture. We find that Protestants are less likely to invest in stocks than nonreligious households. Catholics are more likely to participate in stock markets than nonreligious households,...

During a period of increasing prosperity, the U.S. debt delinquency rate decreased between 2016 and 2019, with a relatively large decrease for Asians households and somewhat smaller decrease for Blacks and Whites, while the rate for Hispanics stayed constant. Blacks were more likely to be delinquent than Whites and Hispanics. Controlling for househ...

This study examined racial/ethnic differences in financial capability controlling for various factors focusing on the role of financial education. Further, we investigated contributing factors to clarify where such gap stems. Regression results using data from the 2018 US National Financial Capability Study indicated that Whites had a higher level...

Using a sample of 1,215 US retail investors, we provide evidence on the effect of investment literacy and of investment literacy overconfidence on the likelihood of purchasing securities on margin, and also, among those who had purchased securities on margin, the likelihood of experiencing a margin call. Based on multivariate analyses, the likeliho...

This paper analyzes convergence in income inequality among US states using century-long data from 1917 to 2012. Levels of inequality substantially differ among US states, and convergence analysis examines whether those differences have decreased over time. We show weak evidence of inequality convergence from 1917 to 2012. Convergence is found only...

Which spouse is more knowledgeable about the household's finances in mixed‐sex married couple households? The answer to this question can be inferred from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which assigns the title of “respondent” to the person the household indicates is more knowledgeable about its finances. In the 2016 SCF, the husband was the...

This study investigated the role of financial education on a basic level of estate planning of U.S. households. Results from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) dataset showed that financial education is positively associated with one’s basic estate planning, proxied by having a will. Multiple exposures to financial education over t...

Which spouse is more knowledgeable about the household's finances in mixed-sex married couple households? The answer to this question can be inferred from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which assigns the title of "respondent" to the person the household indicates is more knowledgeable about its finances. In the 2016 SCF, the husband was the...

Establishing a retirement goal facilitates one’s long-term financial planning behavior. Yet, the portion of U.S. households who achieve this goal is relatively small. Further, the percentage is much lower among racial and ethnic minorities. This study investigates racial/ethnic disparities in motives for holding a retirement savings and contributin...

The Millennial generation's financial behaviors are of great importance because they will contribute significantly to the labor market in the future. Using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) dataset, we examine the relationships between Millennials' propensity to plan, financial knowledge, and credit card management behaviors. The...

We examined the relationship between holding a student loan and financial satisfaction and financial education’s moderating role using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study dataset. Households with a student loan had lower levels of financial satisfaction than those without one. We found a moderating role of receiving both formal and informa...

This study investigated the relationship between financial knowledge and financial well-being and included the moderating role of the propensity to plan. This study used the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s measure of financial well-being as it explains consumers’ subjective sense of it. Results from the 2016 National Financial Well-Be...

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) has included a 4-level risk tolerance measure since 1983. In 2016, the SCF also included an 11-level risk tolerance measure. We compare the two measures, and develop suggestions for using the new measure. While the new measure is seemingly simpler than the old measure, we demonstrate that it does not have a mon...

Based on our analyses of Survey of Consumer Finances datasets, the proportion of households owning a life insurance policy decreased from 72% in 1992 to 60% in 2016. We estimated logistic regressions on the likelihood of ownership of any, term, and cash value life insurance. We conclude that changes in household characteristics accounted for the de...

Background: Less is known about the impact of cancer on household assets and household financial portfolio during which cancer survivors face higher mortality risk. Economic theory predicts that cancer survivors would deplete their wealth in such a way that meets immediate financial needs for treatment and that hedges the risk of anticipated medic...

This study used data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study to analyze the adoption of mobile payments by U.S. households. While 24% of respondents used mobile payments, the mean rate for those under age 25 was 11 times the rate for those 65 and older. State rates ranged from about 9% in Montana to 34% in Washington, DC. Based on a logis...

This study demonstrates the way investors’ psychological traits influence their financial behaviors in the stock market. Results from the Health and Retirement Study show that anxious individuals are reluctant to participate in the stock market and have a lower level of risky investments. Anxiety’s effect is more pronounced for less educated invest...

This research investigates the relationship between how a household receives financial information and the degree to which investment portfolios are diversified. Diversification is measured as allocation across asset classes and share of assets held in each asset class. Propensity score-based techniques incorporating stratification and weighting ar...

This study investigated the effect of objective and subjective financial literacy on mortgage payment delinquency using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study dataset. A hierarchical model showed a substantial negative effect of objective literacy on delinquency, but subjective literacy did not have a significant effect. The predicted likelih...

We test whether Asian parents place more importance on helping their children with college costs than parents in other racial/ethnic groups. Some previous research has shown that Asian parents are more likely than comparable White parents to list saving for college as an important goal, but does that indicate that they place more importance on help...

This study examined the factors related to attitude toward education debt. Based on the conceptual framework of the multidimensional nature of attitude toward debt, empirical models were constructed with variables focused on debt utility and debt fear. Using the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances dataset, this study found that debt utility variables,...

The decrease in life insurance ownership: Implications for financial planning Abstract Based on our analyses of Survey of Consumer Finances datasets, the proportion of households owning a life insurance policy decreased from 72% in 1992 to 60% in 2016. We estimated logistic regressions on the likelihood of ownership of any, term, and cash value lif...

This study analyzed how business-owning families prepare for their retirement using four indicators: (a) having established retirement as a goal for saving, (b) ownership of a Defined Benefit (DB) or Defined Contribution (DC) plan, (c) ownership of IRA/Keogh accounts, and (d) the amount of retirement assets. Results using a pooled dataset of the 20...

This study investigates the role of financial knowledge in various short-term and long-term financial behaviors among Millennials in the United States. Results from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) indicate that Millennials have lower levels of objective financial knowledge and similar levels of perceived financial knowledge as c...

This study examined the factors related to educational debt attitudes. Based on the conceptual framework of the multidimensional nature of debt attitude, empirical models were constructed with variables focused on debt utility and debt fear. Using the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finance, this study found that debt utility variables, such as having a hi...

Using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) dataset, this study examined the association between race/ethnicity and the use of alternative financial services (AFS) with the moderating role of financial knowledge. Results showed that Blacks were more likely to use payday loans, pawnshops and rent-to-own stores than Whites. Further, His...

We analyzed factors related to the financial risk tolerance of Chinese households, using the 2011 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS). The risk tolerance question was similar to one in the U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), and we found that CHFS respondents had slightly higher risk tolerance than SCF respondents, but the percent of househol...

The demographic changes in the U.S population and the impending depletion of the Social Security Fund both prompt the need for research on factors related to delayed retirement expectations. The purpose of this research is to discern the factors that could affect workers’ choices to delay retirement. This study focuses on the retirement expectation...

Nowadays, most married families are dual-worker families and woman will also participate in the labor market. So the determination of factors related to each spouse’s delayed retirement expectation in couple households is an important topic that was understudied by previous studies. Delayed retirement expectation bears meanings for mitigating the p...

We analyzed factors related to the financial risk tolerance of Chinese households, using the 2011 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS). The risk tolerance question was similar to one in the U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), and we found that CHFS respondents had slightly higher risk tolerance than SCF respondents, but the percent of househol...

We tested whether Asian American parents place more importance on helping their children with college costs than parents with other racial/ethnic groups. Our logistic regression controlling for household characteristics shows that among households with at least one child age 13 to 17, Asian American parents are not different from other racial/ethni...

Using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study Investor Survey, this study uses agency theory to inform an exploration of characteristics associated with knowing how one’s financial advisor/broker is compensated. This study further examines how individuals who do know the compensation method choose between financial advisors with different comp...

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is the most frequently used dataset for research in this journal, but many researchers and readers do not fully understand some of the dataset's complex details. This article provides insight into important issues that researchers and readers need to understand to accurately conduct and interpret SCF-based rese...

Using the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) panel dataset, this study investigated the relationship between subjective income risks and stock ownership of 2,386 households with a working head before and after the Great Recession. We used subjective income uncertainty as a proxy for subjective income risks. A two-stage least squares (2SLS)...

Using the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances panel dataset, we investigate whether and how changes in perceived income and savings motives are related to demand for household savings in the United States after the Great Recession. Households that perceive their current income as lower, relative to normal years are less likely to save than those...

This study analyzed the relation between financial knowledge and household saving behavior using the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) dataset. The results from a hierarchical model showed that both objective and perceived financial knowledge were related positively to the likelihood of being a saver, and the explanatory power of the regressio...

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is the most frequently used dataset for research in this journal, but many researchers and readers do not fully understand some of the dataset’s complex details. This article provides insight into important issues that researchers and readers need to understand to accurately conduct and interpret SCF-based rese...

The proportion of US households that used a high-cost credit product, payday loans, almost doubled between 2007 and 2013. In this study, we estimated the effect of credit constraints on the likelihood of using payday loans. Based on a logistic regression of data from the 2007-2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), we found that households with cre...

This study examined the profile of student loans in the U.S., identifying the determinants of three types of financial burdens attributable to student loans: (1) outstanding balance; (2) loan payment-to-income ratio, and (3) loan delinquency. The pooled dataset from the 2010 to 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances was used, and the analytic sample size...

It has been well established in the literature that financial advice leads to informed decision‐making and improved financial outcomes. However, there is limited evidence regarding the link between financial planner use and attitudes toward retirement saving. As financial planners provide comprehensive advice for the long‐term benefits of clients,...

Using the 2012 National Financial Capability Study, this study investigated the relationship between financial literacy and payday loan use. An instrumental variable approach was employed to address a possible endogeneity issue using a newly developed instrument of financial literacy based on the community network effect. Results from linear regres...

In the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, 18% of full-time workers aged 35 to 60 who were household heads expected to never retire. Do these never retire responses indicate a plan to never retire or an inability to plan? Factors related to expecting to never retire were more related to a failure to plan rather than a preference for working indefinit...

This study analyzed the debt profile of low-income households before and after the Great Recession using the 2007-2013 Survey of Consumer Finances. We utilized Heckman selection models to investigate three debt characteristics; (1) the amount of debt, (2) debt-to-income ratio, and (3) debt delinquency. Before and after the Great Recession, results...

This study examines how client characteristics differ between individuals who use commission only, fee-only, and commission and- fee financial planners. Data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) Investor Survey were used to explore client profiles, portfolio characteristics, adviser use characteristics, and client perceptions. S...

This study investigated the role of financial literacy in various short-term and long-term financial decisions among Millennials in the United States. Results from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) indicate that Millennials had lower levels of objective financial knowledge and higher levels of subjective financial knowledge as com...

Using the 2010 and 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, we propose two new measures of asset class diversification that account for two main dimensions; the number of asset classes held and the degree of concentration of wealth in each asset class.

1. The typical treatment of inflation in retirement planning textbooks is too complex and is not reasonable in terms of the amount to contribute the first year being dependent on the inflation rate assumption. 2. Economists typically put all amounts and interest rates in inflation-adjusted terms, which is simpler and a more rational approach to lon...

This research extends previous literature on the relationship between financial literacy and financial advice seeking in three ways: (1) we examine financial planner use specifically within the context of retirement planning, (2) we incorporate Huston’s (2010) framework of financial literacy, and (3) we use longitudinal data to investigate the init...

Using the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board’s definition of financial planning, this article evaluates the validity of the measures of financial planner use in publicly available datasets. A review of Financial Services Review, Journal of Personal Finance, Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Journal of Consum...

We examine the self-control problems of U.S households and their effects on households’ retirement preparedness based on the Behavioral Life-Cycle Hypothesis. Using the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances dataset, the level of retirement adequacy was estimated with income replacement ratio (IRR), and only 42% of households were adequately prepared for...

Some textbooks suggest using financial ratios to provide simple indicators of whether households are making appropriate financial decisions. We investigate three investment ratios mentioned in textbooks: investments to net worth, investments to annual income, and investments to total assets. We conduct regressions on respondent evaluation of the ad...

Roughly half of working households in the USA are not saving enough to be able to maintain their current spending after retirement. Scholz et al. (2006) obtained an estimate of 80 % of working households saving enough because of their assumption about the personal discount rate that implied much lower optimal spending in retirement than before reti...

During the recent Great Recession, US households, especially those with low incomes, faced severe financial distress. Households experiencing economic hardship may turn to receiving government assistance to alleviate the hardship or distress. Receiving government assistance may improve a household’s financial situation as it could be decreasing its...

This study used the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to identify the role of the propensity to plan on retirement savings and asset accumulation. Based on the theory of propensity to plan, this study proposed two comprehensive indices for propensity to plan by reducing the number of related variables using principal components analysis. Resul...

Using the 2010 and 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (N=12,497), this study investigates the relationship between credit constraint and credit use of U.S. households after the Great Recession. Credit use is identified for two major categories of household debt, (1) installment loan debt and (2) credit card debt. Results of a Heckman selection model...