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Top-Line 2008–09 Affluent MacroMonitor

Introduction

This Top-Line volume provides the responses of affluent households to the 2008–09 MacroMonitor survey questionnaire. This volume follows the order of the survey questionnaire fielded in the summer of 2008. For example, responses to each question on page A-1 of the questionnaire will be on page A-1 or A-1a in this volume.

Affluent households are those whose annual income is $100,000 or more or whose total assets, excluding their primary residence, is $500,000 or more. When we fielded this survey, 2,052 respondents qualified as affluent, representing 30,104,000 households. The MacroMonitor defines a household as all persons (adults and children) living in the primary home who share basic finances. A household could consist of a single adult (with or without dependent children), married adults (with or without dependent children), or unmarried adults (with or without dependent children) who share basic finances. Sharing basic finances means sharing such financial matters as paying bills, obtaining loans, making investments, and supporting dependent children. The primary home is the place where household members live most (or all) of the year.

Most questions describe the respondent population—for example, "Own or Lease Vehicle" or "Own a Mutual Fund." If the question describes no respondent population, the respondent population is "All U.S. Affluent Households." The weighted number of households answering a question is the "base" for that question. Responses to each question appear as percentages of its 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.

Where comparable, we show trend information from the 2006–07 Affluent MacroMonitor. When trend information is available, it appears in italics to the right of or below the 2008 data. If we used alternative question wording previously, a footnote will so indicate. An n.a. indicates that we did not ask the item in the pertinent year.

A sample question is shown below.

Sample Question
A. 9.   Overall, who handles most of the major financial affairs of
your household? (MARK AN X IN ONE BOX ONLY)
  Base: 29,519,000
27,681,000
 
  41% 45% Male head of household
  24 22 Female head of household
  34 34 Both male and female heads of household
    *   * Other

Four appendixes follow the questionnaire sections. Appendix A outlines the survey methodology, including a description of questionnaire design, sample selection, and fielding. Appendix B describes the procedures to weight the sample to nationally representative distributions. Appendix C provides confidence interval tables for sample tolerance. 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 decision-maker 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-2
Automatic and alternative access B-4
Financial services over the Internet B-5
C. Use of Financial Institutions C-1
Primary institution C-1
Attitudes toward institutions C-2
Banks, savings & loans, and credit unions C-3
Insurance companies C-6
Mutual fund companies, stockbrokerages, and financial planning companies C-8
Consumer finance, vehicle finance, and other finance and credit companies C-11a
Share of wallet C-13
D. Checking, Savings, and Other Accounts D-1
Checking accounts and regular or passbook savings accounts D-1
ATM and debit 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-6
Cusotdial accounts, education savings accounts, and 529 plans D-7
Private banking D-8
Recent and likely account activity D-8a
E. Investments E-1
Investment goals E-1
Investment factors and risk–return tradeoff E-1
Discretionary income E-1a
Investment attitudes E-2
Certificates of deposit 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-9a
Stockbrokerage accounts E-10
Trading activity E-10a
Margin agreements and accounts E-11a
Personal trusts E-12
Retirement Income Funds E-12a
Tangible assets E-13
Recent and likely investment activities E-13a
F. Retirement Products F-1
Retirement attitudes F-1
Retirement status and concerns F-1a
IRAs and SEPs F-2
Keogh accounts F-4
Salary-reduction plans F-4a
Individual annuities F-7
Defined benefit pension plans F-9a
Amount needed to retire F-10
Recent and likely retirement activity F-10
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
J. Consumer Loans J-1
Purposes for borrowing J-1
Attitudes toward credit J-1b
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
Travel and entertainment cards K-4a
Smart cards, contactless payment systems, and stored-value cards 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-2a
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-3
Types of financial advice likely to obtain N-4
Information sources and topics N-4a
O. Demographics (Background Information) O-1
Major life events O-1
Membership in organizations and associations O-2
Education O-2a
Employment status O-3
Retirement age O-4
Occupation O-4a
Business ownership O-5
Income—source, amount, percent contribution O-6
Ethnicity and respondent identity O-7
Glossary P-1
Appendixes  
A: MacroMonitor Survey Methodology AA-1
B: Survey Weighting Procedures BB-1
C: Sampling Tolerance Tables CC-1
D: Calculated Variables DD-1