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Top-Line 2020–21 MacroMonitor

Introduction

The 2020–21 MacroMonitor consists of survey responses from US household financial decision makers collected between 31 July and 30 September 2020 via the Ipsos KnowledgePanel®. This Top-Line volume presents the responses of 4,254 households to the 2020–21 MacroMonitor survey, weighted to represent all US economic household units (140,750,000). The 2018–19 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" and "Own a Mutual Fund." If no respondent population is specified, the respondent population is "All US 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 2018–19 MacroMonitor data appear in italics, either to the right of or just below the 2020–21 MacroMonitor data, and "n.a." indicates the item was not asked in 2018.

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: 107,919,000
103,352,000
  5% 7% Much more than a year ago
  7 9 Somewhat more than a year ago
  43 44 About the same as a year ago
  13 11 Somewhat less than a year ago
  24 20 Much less than a year ago
  8 9 Don't know

Four appendixes 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 9
Mobile devices and financial services 14
C. Use of Financial Institutions 15
Primary institution type 15
Attitudes toward financial institutions 16
Banks and credit unions 17
Insurance companies 23
Stockbrokerages and mutual fund and financial-planning companies 27
Consumer finance, vehicle finance, and other credit companies 31
Share of wallet 34
D. Checking, Savings, and Other Accounts 35
Checking and savings accounts 35
Debit and ATM cards 36a
Money market deposit accounts and money market mutual funds 38
Packaged and asset-management accounts 39
Wrap or separately-managed accounts 40a
Custodial and education savings accounts and 529 plans 41
Private banking 42
Recent and likely account activities 42a
E. Investments 43
Saving and investment goals 43
Investment factors 43a
Risk–return tradeoff 43a
Discretionary income 43a
Investing and saving attitudes 44
CDs 45
U.S. savings bonds 46
U.S. Treasury securities 46
Stock and bond mutual funds 46a
Stocks, bonds, and other securities 52a
Stockbrokerage accounts 53
Trading activity 54
Method of trading 54a
Margin agreements and accounts 55a
Personal trusts 56
Tangible assets 57
Peer-to-Peer investing/lending 57a
Discount rate 58
Recent and likely investment activities 59
F. Retirement Products 60
Retirement attitudes 60
Retirement status 61
IRAs and SEPs 61
Keogh accounts 63
401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans 65
Individual annuities 65a
Defined benefit pension plans 69
Amount needed to retire 69a
Recent and likely retirement activities 70
G. Real Estate 71
Primary home 71
Homeowner's and renter's insurance 71a
Home ownership and value 72
Primary home loans and equity lines 72a
Mortgage life and disability insurance on primary home loans 74a
Other real estate 75
Mortgages, loans, and lines of credit on other real estate 75a
Insurance on other real estate 76
Escrow accounts 76
Reverse mortgages 76a
Recent and likely real estate-related activities 77
H. Vehicles 78
Ownership 78
Loans and leases 78
Insurance 80a
Recent and likely vehicle-related activities 81
Cash out auto equity loans 81
I. General Attitudes 82
Level of importance of household's financial needs 82
Level of usefulness of household's financial products and services 83
Investment risk tolerance 83a
J. Consumer Loans 84
Purposes for borrowing 84
Attitudes toward credit 84a
Installment loans, education loans, other loans, and credit lines 85
Peer-to-Peer lending 87
Recent and likely consumer credit activities 88
K. Credit, Charge, and Other Cards 89
Credit cards—Issuing institution 89
Credit cards—Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express 90
Credit cards—Co-branding/affinity; rewards 92
Credit cards—Payment habits 93
Self-reported FICO score 94b
Charge cards 95
Prepaid, relaodable, and stored-value cards 95a
Contactless payment systems 96
Payment types used for 13 major purchases 96a
Recent and likely credit-card–related activities 97
L. Life Insurance 98
Life insurance attitudes 98
Group life insurance 99
Individual life insurance 99
Term life insurance 100
Whole life (straight life) insurance 100a
Universal, variable, and interest-sensitive life insurance 101
Policy loans 102
Most recent individual life insurance purchase 102a
Recent and likely life insurance activities 103a
M. Other Insurance 105
Health insurance and other types of insurance attitudes 105
Government-sponsored health insurance 105
Health and health-related insurance: Group and Individual 106
Deductibles 108
Out-of-pocket medical expenses 108
Health savings accounts 108a
Liability, accident, and other insurance 108b
Recent and likely health and other insurance activities 109
N. Information and Advice 110
Financial strategy and confidence 110
Financial information and advice attitudes 110
Use of financial professionals 111
Level of financial control 116
Trust in financial professionals 116a
Recent and likely professional financial advice 117
Financial information sources 118
Robo advisors 119
Recent and likely financial advisor activities 119a
O. Background Information 120
Recent and likely major life events 120
Household levels of stress 121
Membership in organizations and associations 121a
Volunteer activities 122
Primary head of household 122
Highest level of education 122
Employer benefits 123
Employment status 123
Retirement age 124
Occupation 124a
Business ownership 125
Household income: Source, amounts 127
Household income: Percent contribution 128a
Ethnicity of household heads 129
Appendixes  
A: MacroMonitor Survey Methodology A-1
B: Survey Weighting Procedures B-1
C: Sampling Tolerance Tables C-1
D: Calculated Variables D-1