A recent Nielsen study revealed that almost two-thirds of consumers in the United States, many more than those surveyed just one year ago, have cut back their expenses, specifically due to escalating gas prices.

According to the study, which queried about 50,000 consumers during the first week of June, when regular gas averaged $3.98 per gallon, 78% of consumers are combining shopping trips, 52% are eating out less and 51% are staying at home more. Consumers are also clipping more coupons, doing more shopping at supercenters and buying less expensive brands, the survey found.

Over the past eight years, eerily coinciding with the time that those in the White House were individuals with very strong ties to oil companies and the energy industry, I’ve seen prices at the pump climb 300%. But unlike the majority surveyed, I can’t say that I’ve changed my spending pattern due to this incredible increase in price. I have changed a few habits to save money, like switching to generic brands for certain items, but I find I am spending significantly more in just about every category compared to my expenses in 2000.

I’ve never been much a coupon clipper. If a coupon happens to find its way to my line of sight, and it’s something I might need in the foreseeable future, I will clip it to my refrigerator door and I may remember to bring it with me on my next shopping trip. This hasn’t been changed by gas prices. I am not traveling less, either.

Have you changed any of your habits due to the increase in gas prices?

Gas prices have consumers cutting back – study, Associated Press, July 17, 2008.

The new bill supporting financial literacy education introduced in the Senate recently may be a response to a recent survey that quantified apparent American ignorance in matters of money.

The survey presented 1,000 people with a hypothetical scenario about credit card debt and asked them to compute how long it would take to pay it off. Only 35.9% of the 1,000 respondents could figure out how many years it would take for the amount they owe on their credit cards to double. A full 18.2% did not know how to respond and 31.9% of those surveyed over-estimated the timeframe…

Harvard Business School Professor Peter Tufano, a self-proclaimed believer in financial education, does not see credit as inherently bad, but he said that debt services are much more complicated now than they were a generation ago. He said credit card companies could help by creating more consumer friendly credit contracts that plainly spell out the terms, and bills that itemize outstanding debt so consumers can grasp the reality of how they spend money and how long it will take to pay.

Credit cards often use four very specific techniques, and customers are usually not aware of how these work. They are often not explained until after you apply for and are approved for a credit card, if at all.

Two-Cycle Billing. If you carry a balance one month, you’ll be charged interest for your average daily balance over two billing cycles rather than the average over just the period of time past the “grace period.” If, after carrying a balance, you pay your bill in full, you might end up owing even more money for interest even after you think your card is fully paid off. If you don’t notice this, you will begin to owe further interest on that carried-over interest.

Universal Default. This practice has been highly criticized and a number of credit card companies have dropped this, but you often won’t know until this happens: If you are late on a payment for one credit card and the issuer decides to charge you a higher interest rate for default, other unrelated credit card companies can decide to raise your rates as well.

Over-Limit Fees. In the past, credit cards had hard spending limits. If you tried to charge beyond what the amount the company decides is an acceptable credit risk for you, your transaction would be declined. Spenders have grown accustomed to this crutch, but now, some cards allow you to charge beyond your limit—but will slap you with a fee for doing so.

Due Times. You know what day of the month your credit card payment is due, but some cards also have a “due time.” The due time will invariably be before that day’s mail is sorted and delivered at the lender’s payment processing location. It’s bad enough customers have to deal with changing due dates, but credit card users should err on the side of being early, even with electronic payments.

These are only minor issues, however, when “typical” Americans (according to the survey) don’t understand concepts like compound interest.

Befuddled by debt? You’re not alone [CNN Money]

I found this in my spam e-mail box today. It’s not spam, it’s marketing from Charles Schwab. The message is interesting enough for me to post because it brings up a nuanced topic: personality categorization. When the media invokes the term “Generation X,” they’re referring to a certain age group in which everyone has enough in common with everyone else to justify generalizations.

According to Wikipedia’s entry on Generation X, this particular group of individuals invoke the descriptions of “apathetic, cynical, disaffected, streetwise loners and slackers.” The entry goes on: “Generation X was generally marked early on by its lack of optimism for the future, nihilism, cynicism, skepticism, alienation and distrust in traditional values and institutions.” The outlook doesn’t seem very positive.

The Charles Schwab study doesn’t attempt to group all of Generation X into one category. They managed to find six separate groups pertaining to attitudes towards life and money. Here’s what they found. I left out some of supporting statistics, but they are interesting

Money Mindset One: Paycheck to Paychecks. By far the largest group representing 25 percent of Gen Xers, members of this predominately female group are extremely stressed about their personal and professional lives. They are less confident than any other group about having a bright future, and are twice as likely to be unsettled and pessimistic about their financial situations.

Money Mindset Two: Spend Now, Pay Laters. Seventeen percent of Gen Xers fall into this category of predominately city dwellers that tend to be optimistic, yet somewhat unrealistic about their futures. Overwhelmingly male (77 percent), this group is incurring significant debt, and believes that Social Security will be there for them when they retire.

Money Mindset Three: Confident and Risk-Tolerants. Representing 15 percent of the overall Gen X population, members of this group have high incomes, active lifestyles and high levels of engagement in their financial future. They are more likely to be married, and believe that by taking risks they can reach lofty financial and lifestyle goals.

Money Mindset Four: No Money, No Worries. This group represents 15 percent of the Gen X population. They are at the bottom of the earnings spectrum yet are very optimistic about life. They are more likely to be single, consider investing risky, and have the fewest number of credit cards. This group also has very little trust in financial firms or advisors.

Money Mindset Five: Cautious Savers. Approximately 14 percent of the Gen X population, this group tends to be financially conservative and concerned about money, highly educated and financially secure, yet is late to adopt new products. They are also more likely focused on home and family than they are on having active social lives.

Money Mindset Six: Overwhelmed but Optimistics. Predominately female, these Gen Xers have significant debt, adjustable rate mortgages, and high rates of financially-induced irritability or anxiety. Despite this, they manage to stay positive about their futures. This group represents 13 percent of the Gen X population.

Six categories are better than one. I think they’ve managed to capture all attitudes, but it would be more interesting to compare the findings with categorizations of different age groups. Is Generation Y different?

Image credit: aaronmerrell
Supremely Confident to Super Stressed: Landmark Gen X Study From Schwab Uncovers Six Distinct Financial Mindsets [Charles Schwab]

Are gay men discriminated against by employers? Yes, according to a new study which appears in the Journal of Labor Research.

The study, co-authored by Bruce Elmslie, professor of economics at UNH Whittemore and Edinaldo Tebaldi of Bryant University in Rhode Island, contains an in-depth analysis of wage and labor data collected by the U.S. Census in March 2004. The dataset represents over 91,000 heterosexual and homosexual couples.

According to the authors, gay men who live together earn 23 percent less than married men, and 9 percent less than unmarried heterosexual men who live with a woman. Discrimination is most pronounced in management and blue-collar, male-dominated occupations such as building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; construction and extraction; and production.

The authors also found that lesbians are not discriminated against when compared with heterosexual women. They conclude that while negative attitudes toward lesbians could affect them, lesbians may benefit from the perception that they are more career-focused and less likely to leave the labor market to raise children than heterosexual women. According to their study, 18.1 percent of lesbians have children, compared with 49.4 percent of straight women.

Within the study, the authors suggest that employer disapproval of the gay lifestyle, fears about offending customers and concerning the transmission of HIV/AIDS may be affecting hiring and salary decisions. While these are certainly plausible theories, the data they examined does not truly provide any information regarding these potential causes, and more research is needed to justify their assertions.

I believe this study raises more questions than it answers, but the data revealed remains of interest, regardless of the whys.

I’ve long been disturbed that even in 2007, salary and position inequalities still exist between men and women, but until now, I hadn’t realized that homosexual men were affected as well. Gay couples already face unique retirement challenges, and compensation inequities only exacerbate the issue.

Gay men can earn 23 pct less than married men: study [Reuters UK]
New Research Finds Gay Men, But Not Lesbians, Are Discriminated Against in Some Jobs [UNH Media Relations]