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Using data from the 2001, 2004, and 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this research examines the characteristics of households that invested in rental real estate during the 2000s. Given the tumultuous real estate market during that decade, rental real estate investment was investigated during the early part of the housing market boom (2001), the height of the boom (2004), and after the market began to decline (2008). Results reveal relative stability with slight investment increases in rental real estate (4.57% in 2001 to 5.00% in 2004 to 5.08% in 2008), and several investor demographic and financial characteristics consistently associated with the investment decision. Evidence of potential over-reliance on real estate investment by some households indicates that financial planners should work to educate clients who invest, or are seeking to invest, in real estate. Education would emphasize that overweighting portfolios with real estate could be deleterious to client's wealth goals in times of slow rental or depreciating housing markets.

Using online survey responses from 509 undergraduate students, three financial education methods (on-campus financial counseling center, online financial management resources, and in-person educational workshops) were examined. Using a social constructionist framework, the analysis controlled for various demographic and financial factors. The results of three logistic regressions indicated that having taken a personal finance course was positively associated with interest in all three delivery methods. Having higher debt, being African American, and believing that finances will affect college completion were positively associated with at least one but not all three delivery methods. Recommendations for implementing financial education programming for college students are provided. (Contains 4 tables.)

The study reported here explored level of interest and preferred delivery method of Extension programming related to financial management and relationship skills education. These two subjects comprise areas of Extension that often receive less recognition but appear as pertinent issues in the lives of many individuals. Using a diverse sample of 512 residents from the state of Georgia, findings from the study indicate high levels of interest for receiving information in both program areas. Additionally, findings highlight how delivery method preferences depend on both the particular audience and particular content areas. (Contains 6 tables.)

Attempts to measure the impact of Extension programs have been implemented to varying effects for many years. Using data from several economics of personal finance workshops designed to teach high school teachers about a state's new personal finance performance standards, this article reports the results from of one type of evaluation, a retrospective pretest-posttest, that is useful for one-time, short duration workshops where the extra steps and additional costs of traditional pretest-posttest evaluation may not be warranted. A discussion of the benefits of retrospective pretest-posttest evaluations, including reduced response shift bias, concludes the article. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Being uninsured affects one's ability to access medical services and maintain health. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the authors investigated how individual and family insurance coverage affects adult health. They found that health insurance coverage often varies across family members and changes frequently. Employing multivariate analyses that control for personal insurance status, predisposing characteristics, and enabling resources, the authors show that adults who are members of families that include other uninsured members are more likely to report poor health than adults in full-coverage families. Policy makers should consider refocusing public and private insurance coverage goals to include full-family coverage. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure and 2 notes.)

Early childbearing frequently disrupts development and reduces prospects of realizing one's human capital potential. Using life course and risk and resiliency perspectives, we explored factors associated with the educational paths [...]

The current study reports on the first use of the Personal Financial Wellness ScaleTM in random-digit-dial computer-assisted telephone interviews. The scale was modified for telephone interviews, fielded in a survey of 515 married adults, then assessed using alternative methods that accounted for missing data common in telephone interviews. Confirmatory factor models verified that the scale was robust as both a single and two-construct measure of subjective and objective financial wellness. The modified scale produced low levels of missing data, was not affected by location in the instrument, and exhibited excellent internal reliability under varied assumptions. Recommendations for the use of the scale in telephone interviews, including scale modification, subscale possibilities, and the utility of multiple imputation of missing items, are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to gain an understanding of Accredited Financial Counselors' characteristics and professional activities, an online survey of Accredited Financial Counselors was conducted from December, 2002 to February, 2003. This paper describes the sociodemographic characteristics of Accredited Financial Counselors, reports the non-AFC financial counseling designations held by Accredited Financial Counselors, and provides a sketch of the contexts in which AFC designees are employed, including the type of employer, the number of counseling sessions typically conducted each week, and the average cost of counseling sessions. Suggestions for the growth and development of the financial counseling profession are offered [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research (Blumberg & Ong, 1998; Danziger et al., 2000) documents lack of access to reliable transportation as a major barrier to employment, and a positive relationship between car ownership and employment in both rural and urban areas (Fletcher, Garasky, & Jensen, 2002; Ong, 2002). Despite the growing evidence that reliable transportation is a critical component of public programs that promote self-sufficiency, many public assistance programs incorporate vehicle asset limits in a means test of eligibility. While discussing vehicle ownership among Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, Ong (2002) described these policies as ". . .still shaped by an earlier and largely unfounded fear that welfare recipients will waste resources on luxury cars" (p.249). Using data from the Iowa Transportation and Employment Survey (ITES), we explore the relationship between vehicle value and vehicle reliability, paying particular attention to the vehicle asset limits of Iowa's TANF program. Each of the 768 respondents in the ITES provided a complete roster of all vehicles in the household, including the year, make and model and an assessment of reliability using a 5-point scale ranging from "very reliable" to "not working at all." We assigned a "trade-in" value from the National Automobile Dealer's Association (NADA) Used Car Guide Book for each vehicle. Vehicles were excluded from the database if incomplete information made it impossible to identify a specific vehicle model and, therefore, its estimated value. This process resulted in a sample of 1,249 vehicles used in the analysis. Contrary to stereotypic views that are portrayed in the press, our analyses suggest that TANF recipients (and other low-income households) do not own "luxury" cars. Only I % of the recipient-owned vehicles were valued at more than $7,550 in 2001. Descriptive analysis shows that the proportion of vehicles that are evaluated as "very reliable" is much higher among vehicles in the highest quintile of the vehicle distribution arrayed by estimated value. About 42% versus 96% of the vehicles in the lowest and highest quintiles are rated "very reliable." Further, our analysis using a regression simulation suggests that vehicles with asset values that exceed Iowa's TANF vehicle asset limit ($3,889) have a higher probability of being "very reliable" compared to vehicles with values below this cutoff. Our findings suggest that public policy and programs that facilitate the purchase and ownership of more reliable vehicles would, in turn, support the employment goals of TANF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses newly available survey data from a sample of Iowa households to examine the prevalence and correlates of financial transportation hardship. The study extends our understanding of material hardship by conceptualizing transportation as a basic need and developing an empirical measure of transportation hardship. Twenty-five percent of the full sample and 34 percent of low-income (incomes less than two times the poverty threshold) respondents report having experienced one or more of these hardships in the previous 12 months: not having money for gasoline when a member of the household needed to travel, neglecting necessary car repairs because they were too expensive, allowing car insurance payments to lapse because payments were too high, missing a car payment, or having a vehicle repossessed. Multivariate analysis results suggest that the strongest predictors of experiencing a financial transportation hardship include: education, report of fair or poor health, the presence of children in the household, receipt of public assistance, and ownership of older and/or "not very reliable" vehicles. Transportation hardship reports also are negatively associated with income. Our findings suggest that public policies targeted toward employment of low-income populations should recognize the importance of transportation assistance as a work support. Policies and programs that ease the financial burden of private vehicle ownership could result in reducing material hardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the financial services market to determine whether evidence of a market failure, in the form of discriminatory or predatory lending, exists. Our working analogy is one where two financial services markets exist: a primary, or traditional, market of banks, credit unions, and other traditional financial service providers; and a secondary, or "alternative", financial services market comprised of finance or loan companies, store or utility companies, or similar non-bank establishments. Evidence of a dual financial market, and the implied failure of the financial services market, is argued to be determined by higher lending rates and rationing of primary market services for consumers in a secondary market that are not justified by a corresponding increased default rate. Using the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances, we find conflicting evidence of our working hypothesis that there are distinct financial markets. Consistent with the hypothesis of a dual financial market, the results provide evidence that one's economic circumstances, and the interest rate at which one borrows money, is determined to some extent by the type of loan that is used to borrow it. However, we find no evidence of a relationship between interest rates and an income level for borrowers that might indicate the presence of a secondary financial market threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]