Who Decides? Financial Decision-Making Among Older Couples

Using a sample of 2621 respondents from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study identifies factors associated with who makes complex financial decisions among older couples. Our results show that the bargaining power of wives has a positive association with their decision-making about...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family and economic issues 2022-06, Vol.43 (2), p.310-337
Main Authors: Lim, HanNa, Shin, Su Hyun, Wilmarth, Melissa J., Park, Narang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bargaining
Cognitive ability
Cognitive functioning
Couples
Decision making
Family
Financial management
Health insurance
Husbands
Locus of control
Married couples
Older people
Original Paper
Personal finance
Personality and Social Psychology
Power
Retirement
Risk
Sense of control
Social Policy
Social Sciences
Social support
Sociology
Taxation
Tolerance
Wives
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Summary:Using a sample of 2621 respondents from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study identifies factors associated with who makes complex financial decisions among older couples. Our results show that the bargaining power of wives has a positive association with their decision-making about savings, investments, and health insurance, while the power of husbands is negatively associated with wives being more responsible for decisions about health insurance and tax filing. Moreover, while the husband’s sense of control, risk tolerance, and cognitive ability are associated with decisions for all financial decisions, the wife’s sense of control, risk tolerance, and cognitive ability are related to some financial decisions only. Our results show some moderating roles of the perceived spousal social support, household income, and mother’s education on the association between the four explanatory variables (bargaining power, sense of control, risk tolerance, and cognitive ability) and who makes the financial decisions. The findings provide potential benefits for older couples who consult financial professionals about financial management.
ISSN:1058-0476
1573-3475
DOI:10.1007/s10834-021-09775-3