Hello:
Welcome to the Survey of Household Savings. This survey is designed for the “head” of the household. The “head” is either the single core individual (economically) in your household or one of the individuals in the central couple in your household. Only one individual per household should answer the survey. If you feel that another person in your household may be more adequately described as the “head” of your household, please have that person fill out the survey. If the "head" of the household is not available, only the wife or husband of this person may serve as proxy.
In this survey, you will be asked questions about your household's characteristics and savings and consumption decisions. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire.
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. There are no foreseeable risks associated with this project. However, if you feel uncomfortable answering any questions, you can withdraw from the survey at any point. It is very important for us to learn your opinions. Your survey responses will be strictly confidential and be used for statistical analysis only. The data from this research will be reported only in the aggregate. Your information will be coded and will remain confidential.
If you have questions at any time about the survey or the procedures, you may contact Dayoung Lee at [email protected] or by phone at 650-796-6646. This project is carried out under the Political Science and Economics departments of Stanford University.
Thank you very much for your time and support. Please start with the survey now by clicking on the Continue button below.
Basic Household and Background Information
How many people usually live in your household?
(This includes you but excludes people who do not usually live there and who are financially independent.) Please indicate your date of birth. Please select your gender. How many members of your family are financially dependent?
(They have no income of their own and you and/or someone else in your household supports them) How many children do you (and/or your spouse, if you are married) have? How many members of your household are above the age of 65? Which of these categories do you feel best describes you? (If there is more than one, please choose the one that you identify most with.) In what country were you born? In what country do you live? What is your ethnic origin? Please indicate a country (or region, if specific country not available). If you have multiple origins, please choose the two that you identify most with. (e.g. "Chinese," "Mexican-German") Are you a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident? If not a U.S. citizen, please indicate your citizenship. (You can check more than one box.)
If you are an immigrant to the U.S., in what year did you arrive? (If you do not remember the exact year, please estimate as best as you can. Only select "don't remember" if you absolutely cannot give a rough estimate.) If you are not a first generation immigrant, around what year did your family or your ancestors move to the U.S.? (Please choose "Don't know" only if a rough estimate is not possible.) If you are an immigrant, please indicate why you came to the U.S. What is the highest grade of school or year of college you completed?
This section asks you several questions regarding your beliefs. Please be as open and honest as possible, but feel free to leave out the ones you feel uncomfortable answering.
For the following statements, please indicate whether you agree strongly, agree somewhat, neither agree nor disagree, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly:
I value my children's future more than my own current life. I approve of interracial marriage. People should only buy things that are necessary. It is unwise to spend on things that you don't really need. Adoption is a good option for a couple who cannot have children. Saving money is a virtue. American lifestyle is too extravagant. One should never be in debt. I approve of same-sex marriage. Making sure that my children get a good education is one of my top priorities. (If your children have already finished their education, think about the time when they were still young.) Do you plan your life ahead all the time, or do you live more from day to day? Would you rather spend your money and enjoy life today or save more for the future? On a scale of 1 to 5, please indicate where you stand. Are you more often satisfied or dissatisfied with your current financial standing? Do you spend much time figuring out ways to get more money? People have many different reasons for borrowing money which they pay back over a period of time. For each of the following reasons, please tell me whether you feel it is all right for someone like yourself to borrow money. (Please check all that you agree with.) In general, do you think it is a good idea or a bad idea for people to buy things on an installment plan? On a scale from one to five, where one is good, three is neutral, and five is bad, where would you be on the scale?
Employment, Income and Assets
This section asks a number of questions that have dollar denominated answers. The most useful answer is always an exact amount that truly reflects your situation. However, this is not always possible--you may not know the figure, or you may not feel comfortable answering. Because your answers are so important to the study, you may give dollar ranges when no better information is available.
What is your current employment status? If you are working, in which industry do you work?
Looking forward to the next 2-3 years, how confident do you feel about being able to keep your current job? Please give an estimate of your total family income in 2006 before taxes. This figure should include salaries, wages, pensions, dividends, interest and all other income for every member of your family living in your household in 2006.
Please choose "Don't know" only if you really cannot give a rough estimate. Please give an estimate (as accurate as possible) of your current total family financial assets. This figure should include assets in checking accounts, IRA/Keogh accounts, certificates of deposits, savings and money market accounts, mutual funds, bonds (savings or others), publicly traded stock, brokerage accounts, annuities, trusts and managed investment accounts and all other financial asset for every member of your family living in your household.
Please indicate 0 if your family has no financial assets. How about non-financial assets such as houses, land, farm/ranch, and businesses? Give an estimate (as accurate as possible) of your current total family non-financial assets for every member of your family living in your household.
Please indicate 0 if your family has no non-financial assets. Please give an estimate (as accurate as possible) of the total dollar value of financial and non-financial debt you and your family currently owe. This includes any loans and borrowed credit that needs to be paid back over a period of time.
Please indicate 0 if your family owes nothing. Do you and your family own a house? If you do own a house, please give an estimate of the dollar value of the house as best as you can.
Saving and Spending Decisions
This section asks about your family's savings behavior and attitudes about savings.
People have different reasons for saving, even though they may not be saving all the time. What are your family's most important reasons for saving?
If you do not save currently, please explain what would be the most important reasons if you were saving now. In the next five to ten years, are there any foreseeable major expenses that you and your family expect to have to pay for yourselves, such as educational expenses, purchase of a new home, health care costs, support for other family members, or anything else?
What kind of obligations are these? Please be detailed. (If you answered "No" to the previous question, you may skip this question.) Are you saving for these expenses now? In planning (your/your family's) saving and spending, which of the following is most important to you? Which of the following statements comes closest to describing the amount of financial risk that you are willing to take when you save or make investments?
Which of the following statements comes closest to describing your saving habits?
Over the past year, would you say that your family's spending exceeded your family's income, that it was about the same as your income, or that you spent less than your income?
Spending includes durables (like purchase of your home and cars) but should not include any investments (like purchase of stocks, bonds, and land) you have made. If debts are being repaid on net, treat this as spending less than income.
Did any of that spending include purchases of a home or automobile?
If yes, around what portion of your spending is spent in payment for home or car?
If you answered "No" to the preious question, please choose "Not appropriate." If your spending was more than your income, what did you do to make up the difference?
(Choose all that apply) About how much do you think you (and your family) need to have in savings for emergencies and other unexpected things that may come up?
Please give a rough dollar estimate. In an emergency could you and your family get financial assistance of $3,000 or more from any friends or relatives who do not live with you?
For the following statements, please say whether you agree strongly, agree somewhat, neither agree nor disagree, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly:
Compared with other people of (my/our) generation and background, [I/my (husband/wife/partner)] have been lucky in (my/our) financial affairs.
When the things that [I/my (husband/wife/partner)] own increase in value, (I am/we are) more likely to spend money.
Social Safety Net and Future Security
Do you have a retirement account? (401k, IRA account) Using any number from one to five, where one equals totally inadequate and five equals very satisfactory, how would you rate the retirement income you (receive or expect to receive) from Social Security and job pensions?
Include 401(K) accounts and all other types of pensions.
Are you covered by some type of government or private health insurance? If NOT all your family members have health insurance, please explain why. If you have children or expect to have children, how much of a financial burden do you expect your children’s education to be for you in the future? On a scale from one to five, where one is no burden at all, three is moderate, and five is heavy burden, where would you be on the scale? Over the next five years, do you expect the U.S. economy as a whole to perform better, worse, or about the same as it has over the past five years?
When making major decisions about credit or borrowing, some people shop around for the very best terms while others don't. On a scale from one to five, where one is almost no shopping, three is moderate shopping, and five is a great deal of shopping, where would (you/your family) be on the scale? If you have not made these decisions recently, think about what you did the last time that you did. How about when making major decisions about saving or investing. Do you shop around for the very best terms or do hardly any shopping? |
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