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Top-Line 2012–13 Affluent MacroMonitor

Introduction

The MacroMonitor consists of survey responses that CFD collected during June and July of 2012 from 4,261 financial decision makers nationwide via GfK's KnowledgePanel®. Of the 4,261 respondent households, 2,220 are from affluent households, those whose annual income is $100,000 or more or whose total assets, excluding their primary residence, are $500,000 or more. This Top-Line volume provides the responses of the affluent households. Responses to the MacroMonitor survey are weighted to represent all U.S. economic household units; these affluent households represent 34,460,000 households.

This volume follows the order of the survey questionnaire. Responses to each question on page A-1 of the questionnaire will be on pages A-1 or A-1a in this volume. At each question, the respondent population is described. For example: "Own or Lease Vehicle"; "Own a Mutual Fund." If no respondent population is described, the respondent population is: "All Affluent 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 – 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.

Where comparable, data from the 2010–11 MacroMonitor have been included and appear in italics to the right of, or just below, the 2012–13 MacroMonitor numbers and percents. "n.a." indicates the item was not asked.

A sample question is shown below.

Sample Question from Section K
1. a.   Do you or anyone in your household have a credit card? (Select one answer only)
  Base: 34,460,000
32,914,000
 
  92% 93% YES
  8 7 NO
   *  * No answer

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 that GfK used to weight the sample to match nationally representative distributions. Appendix C provides sample tolerance tables enabling users to estimate statistical significance. Appendix D describes the net-worth algorithm and 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 A-1
Family composition A-1
Sex, age, marital status, and financial responsibility A-2
B. Financial Attitudes and Internet Access and Use B-1
$25,000 windfall B-1
General financial attitudes B-1
Direct marketing B-2a
Automatic and alternative access B-4
Financial services over the Internet B-4a
C. Use of Financial Institutions C-1
Primary institution C-1
Attitudes toward institutions C-2
Banks and credit unions C-3
Insurance companies C-6
Full-service and discount stockbrokerages and mutual fund and financial planning companies C-10
Consumer finance, vehicle finance, and other finance and credit companies C-13
Share of wallet C-16
D. Checking, Savings, and Other Accounts D-1
Checking and savings accounts D-1
Debit and ATM cards D-2
Money market deposit accounts and money market mutual funds D-3
Packaged accounts and asset management accounts D-4
Wrap or separately-managed accounts D-5a
Custodial and education savings accounts and 529 plans D-7
Private banking D-8
Recent and likely account activity D-8a
E. Investments E-1
Saving and investment goals E-1
Investment factors and risk–return tradeoff E-1
Discretionary income E-1a
Investment attitudes E-2
CDs E-3
U.S. Savings Bonds E-4
U.S. Treasury Securities E-4
Stock and bond mutual funds E-4a
Stocks, bonds, and other securities E-10a
Stockbrokerage accounts E-11
Trading activity E-11a
Margin agreements and accounts E-12
Personal trusts E-12a
Tangible assets E-13
Discount rate E-13a
Recent and likely investment activities E-14
F. Retirement Products F-1
Retirement attitudes F-1
Retirement status and concerns F-1a
IRAs and SEPs F-2
Keogh accounts F-4
401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans F-4a
Individual annuities F-7
Defined benefit pension plans F-11
Amount needed to retire F-11
Recent and likely retirement activity F-12
G. Real Estate G-1
Primary home G-1
Homeowner's and renter's insurance G-1a
Mortgages, home loans, and lines of credit on primary home G-2
Mortgage life and disability insurance on primary home G-4a
Other real estate G-5
Mortgages, home loans, lines of credit, and insurance on other real estate G-5a
Reverse mortgages G-6
Recent and likely real estate and credit activity G-6a
H. Vehicles H-1
Vehicle ownership, loans, and leases H-1
Vehicle insurance H-3
Recent and likely vehicle activity H-3a
I. General Attitudes I-2
Level of importance of household's financial needs I-2
Level of usefulness of household's financial products and services I-3
J. Consumer Loans J-1
Purposes for borrowing J-1
Attitudes toward credit J-1a
Installment loans, education loans, other loans, and credit lines J-2
Peer-to-peer lending J-3
Recent and likely consumer credit activity J-3a
K. Credit Cards K-1
Credit cards—Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and retail store K-1
Credit cards—issuing institution; co-branding/affinity; rewards K-2
Charge cards K-4a
Contactless payment systems K-5
Recent and likely card activity K-5a
L. Life Insurance L-1
Attitudes toward insurance L-1
Group life insurance L-2
Individual life insurance L-2
Term life insurance L-3
Whole life (straight life) insurance L-3a
Universal, variable, and interest-sensitive life insurance L-4
Policy loans L-5
Most recent insurance purchase L-5
Recent and likely life insurance activity L-6a
M. Other Insurance M-1
Attitudes toward health insurance M-1
Liability and accident insurance M-1
Health and health-related insurance—group and individual M-2
Health Savings Account M-3
Recent and likely health insurance activity M-3a
N. Information and Advice N-1
Financial status and confidence N-1
Attitudes toward financial information and advice N-1a
Use of financial professionals N-2
Time, trust, and control N-4
Types of financial advice likely to obtain N-5
Information sources and topics N-5a
O. Demographics (Background Information) O-1
Major life events O-1
Membership in organizations and associations O-2
Education O-3
Employment status O-3
Retirement age O-4
Occupation O-5
Business ownership O-6
Income—source, amount, percent contribution O-7
Ethnicity and respondent identity O-8
Appendixes  
A: MacroMonitor Survey Methodology AA-1
B: Survey Weighting Procedures BB-1
C: Sampling Tolerance Tables CC-1
D: Calculated Variables DD-1