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Top-Line 2018–19 MacroMonitor

Introduction

The 2018–19 MacroMonitor consists of survey responses from U.S. household financial decision-makers collected between June 29th and August 6th, 2018 via GfK's KnowledgePanel®. This Top-Line volume presents the responses of 4,100 households to the 2018–19 MacroMonitor survey, weighted to represent all U.S. economic household units (139,542,000). The 2016–17 data are trended against the new data where applicable. This volume follows the order of the survey questionnaire.

The respondent population is described before the base for each question. For example: "Have Credit Card"; "Own a Mutual Fund." If no respondent population is specified, the respondent population is: "All U.S. Households." The weighted number of households answering a question is the "base" for that question. Responses to each question are shown as percentages of this base. An asterisk (*) in place of a numerical percentage indicates that the percentage is greater than 0 but less than 1%; a dash (–) indicates no response. The answers to each single-response question should sum to 100%. In some cases, the sum will be slightly larger or smaller than 100% because of rounding.

The 2016–17 MacroMonitor data appear in italics to the right of or just below the 2018–19 MacroMonitor data. "n.a." indicates the item was not asked in 2016.

A sample question is shown below.

Sample Question from Section K
7. Compared with a year ago, how much does your household owe on its credit cards? Select one answer only
  Have Credit Card Base: 103,352,000
102,587,000
  7% 8% Much more than a year ago
  9 10 Somewhat more than a year ago
  44 47 About the same as a year ago
  11 10 Somewhat less than a year ago
  20 18 Much less than a year ago
  9 7 Don't know

Four appendices follow the questionnaire sections. Appendix A outlines the survey methodology, including questionnaire design, sample design and selection, and fielding. Appendix B describes the weighting procedures used to weight the sample to match nationally representative distributions. Appendix C provides sample tolerance tables so users may estimate statistical significance. Appendix D describes the net-worth algorithm and creation of other calculated variables.

For further information, or any comments, suggestions, or questions, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction v
Questionnaire Sections  
A. Household Information 1
Family composition 1
Household head gender and age 2
Marital status 2a
Financial decision making 2a
B. Financial Attitudes, Technology, and Access 4
$25,000 windfall 4
General financial attitudes 4
Direct marketing 5
Peer-to-Peer payments 7
Automatic and alternative access 8
Financial services online 9
Social media and financial services 9a
Mobile devices and financial services 13
C. Use of Financial Institutions 14
Primary institution type 14
Attitudes toward financial institutions 15
Banks and credit unions 16
Insurance companies 19
Stockbrokerages and mutual fund and financial planning companies 23
Consumer finance, vehicle finance, and other credit companies 26
Share of wallet 29
D. Checking, Savings, and Other Accounts 30
Checking and savings accounts 30
Debit and ATM cards 31a
Money market deposit accounts and money market mutual funds 33
Packaged and asset management accounts 34
Wrap or separately-managed accounts 35a
Custodial and education savings accounts and 529 plans 36
Private banking 37
Recent and likely account activities 37a
E. Investments 38
Saving and investment goals 38
Investment factors 38
Risk–return tradeoff 38a
Discretionary income 38a
Investing and saving attitudes 39
CDs 40
U.S. savings bonds 41
U.S. Treasury securities 41
Stock and bond mutual funds 41a
Stocks, bonds, and other securities 47a
Stockbrokerage accounts 48
Trading activity 48a
Method of trading 49a
Margin agreements and accounts 49a
Personal trusts 50
Tangible assets 50a
Discount rate 51
Peer-to-Peer investing/lending 51
Recent and likely investment activities 52
F. Retirement Products 53
Retirement attitudes 53
Retirement status and concerns 53a
IRAs and SEPs 54
Keogh accounts 56
401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans 56
Individual annuities 58a
Defined benefit pension plans 62
Amount needed to retire 62a
Recent and likely retirement activities 63
G. Real Estate 64
Primary home 64
Homeowner's and renter's insurance 64a
Home ownership and value 65
Primary home loans and equity lines 65
Mortgage life and disability insurance on primary home loans 67a
Other real estate 68
Mortgages, loans, and lines of credit on other real estate 68a
Insurance on other real estate 69
Escrow Accounts 69
Reverse mortgages 69a
Recent and likely real estate-related activities 70
H. Vehicles 71
Ownership 71
Loans and leases 72
Insurance 73a
Recent and likely vehicle-related activities 74
I. General Attitudes 75
Level of importance of household's financial needs 75
Level of usefulness of household's financial products and services 76
Investment risk tolerance 76a
J. Consumer Loans 77
Purposes for borrowing 77
Attitudes toward credit 77a
Installment loans, education loans, other loans, and credit lines 78
Cash out auto equity loans 79a
Peer-to-Peer lending 80
Recent and likely consumer credit activities 81
K. Credit, Charge, and Other Cards 82
Credit cards—Issuing institution 82
Credit cards—Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express 82
Credit cards—Co-branding/affinity; rewards 85
Credit cards—Payment habits 86
Self-reported FICO score 87b
Charge cards 88
Prepaid, relaodable, and stored-value cards 88a
Contactless payment systems 89
Payment types used for 13 major purchases 89a
Recent and likely credit-card–related activities 90
L. Life Insurance 91
Life insurance attitudes 91
Group life insurance 92
Individual life insurance 92
Term life insurance 93
Whole life (straight life) insurance 93a
Universal, variable, and interest-sensitive life insurance 94
Policy loans 95
Most recent individual life insurance purchase 95a
Recent and likely life insurance activities 96a
M. Other Insurance 98
Health insurance and other types of insurance attitudes 98
Government-sponsored health insurance 98
Health and health-related insurance: Group and individual 99
Deductibles 100
Out-of-pocket medical expenses 100a
Health savings accounts 100a
Liability, accident, and other insurance 101
Recent and likely health and other insurance activities 102
N. Information and Advice 103
Financial strategy and confidence 103
Financial information and advice attitudes 103
Use of financial professionals 104
Level of financial control 108a
Trust in financial professionals 109
Recent and likely professional financial advice 110
Financial information sources 111
Robo advisors 111a
Recent and likely financial advisor activities 112
O. Background Information 113
Recent and likely major life events 113
Household levels of stress 114
Membership in organizations and associations 114a
Volunteer activities 114a
Primary head of household 115
Highest level of education 115
Employment status 115a
Employer benefits 116
Retirement age 117
Occupation 117a
Business ownership 118
Household income: Source, amounts, percent contribution 120
Ethnicity of household heads 121
Appendixes  
A: MacroMonitor Survey Methodology AA-1
B: Survey Weighting Procedures BB-1
C: Sampling Tolerance Tables CC-1
D: Calculated Variables DD-1