Personal Financial Planning electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
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The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Personal Financial Planning Department. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Item A preliminary study of Missouri's domiciliary homes and boarding homes for the elderly : four case studies(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1979) Heichel, Paula A.We call them the "golden years", ages 65 and over. Yet for many of the 20 million elder Americans these later years of life are not exactly "golden." Not all of our nation's 20 million elderly are enjoying their retirement years in sunny Florida, or California; quite the contrary, a vast number do not have pensions or investments that would enable them to relocate and live a pleasant life of leisure. Many have few or no living relatives to turn to as they grow older and have an increasing need for financial or emotional support. Unfortunately for the less well-off their waning years may be years of hardship and despair because they have no one to look to for assistance and often have severely limited financial means. But what could be seen as most distressing in this matter is the fact that our aged population grows daily, showing every sign of further enlargement in the future. Since the turn of the century advancements in science and technology have given us more and better food, improved sanitation, substantial housing, and improvements for some in working conditions; but advancements in the fields of medicine have provided us with even more. Drastic cuts in infant mortality and the near elimination of contagious diseases in childhood and early adulthood have contributed to people surviving so as to be counted among the fast growing population of elderly citizens.Item Essays on health and retirement in financial planning(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2023) Wu, Weipeng; Yao, Rui[EMBARGOED UNTIL 12/1/2024] This dissertation focused on investigating topics that are closely connected to health and retirement that households need to consider when making financial plans. The first chapter assessed the association between health and wealth accumulation among both single and couple households. The study found that chronic diseases impede wealth accumulation for both single and couple households but to different degrees. Although chronic diseases significantly reduced household wealth through losses in income and increased medical expenses for both types of households, the effect was greater for single households. Furthermore, among couple households, the wife's chronic diseases showed greater effects on wealth, income, and out-of-pocket medical expenses at the household level. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the differential effects of severe chronic diseases on single and couple households. It also sheds light on the different economic effects of health shocks of husbands and wives within couples. The findings provided implications to policymakers regarding identifying and targeting limited resources to households that are most at risk for economic consequences of health shocks and those who are most in need of such public assistance. The second chapter examined differences in active participation and deferral rates between automatic enrollment and active participation in defined contribution (DC) plans. Results showed that DC plans with automatic enrollment led to lower active participation rates than voluntary enrollment. Additionally, automatically enrolled employees tended to have lower deferral rates, but this trend was insignificant among active plan participants. This study showed evidence that some employees opted out from contribution even though they were automatically enrolled in DC plans, suggesting that automatic enrollment may not be as effective as previously thought in promoting active participation and contributions to defined contribution plans. The findings provided implications to employers, policymakers, and researchers regarding methods to motivate employees to actively participate in their DC plans and increase their deferral rate. The third chapter investigated the relationship between chronic health conditions and household medical and non-medical expenses (both discretionary and non- discretionary). Analysis of households affected by various chronic diseases showed that the associations between chronic health conditions and household expenditures vary based on the expenditure category and type of disease. The findings indicated that beyond influencing medical expenses, health conditions also play a significant role in non-medical expenditures including both discretionary and non-discretionary expenditures. The findings of this study provided a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of health conditions on household expenditures, which can help policymakers and healthcare providers develop targeted strategies to alleviate the negative impacts of chronic health problems on retired Americans.Item The relationship between psychological distress and wealth: an analysis of household wealth changes from 2007-2019 in the United States by race, gender, and retirement status(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022) Hampton, Yvonne Renee; Ha-Brookshire, JungThe present study investigated for patterns of predation and parasitism among a collection of Plio-Pleistocene bivalves from the Nashua Formation of Florida. The processed sample yielded 2010 unique whole and broken valves representing 34 genera among 21 families. Traces indicative of predatory drill holes were the dominant trace type (7.7 percent; n=154) followed by trematode-induced pits and igloo-like structures (2.2 percent; n=45) and polydorid-induced traces (1.7 percent; n=35). Drillers strongly preferred Parvilucina and Cavilinga, polydorids preferred Mulinia and related forms and trematodes preferred Gemma and Mulinia and related forms as their preferred prey/host. Valve selectivity was found only for predatory traces in Caryocorbula and combined corbulids whereas site selectivities were recorded only in Mulinia and related forms where drilling predators selectively drilled the dorsal sectors and polydorid parasites preferentially parasitized the posterior sectors. Drilling predators were also size selective of their prey. We further explored if there is a trade-off between selecting parasitized versus healthy prey/hosts by testing for association, avoidance, or neutrality among the trace makers. No evidence for association or avoidance was found with the absence of patterns is best explained by the overall selection of taxa by the Nashua trace makers that limit competition and overlap between Nashua trace makers.This dissertation consists of two essays; we use Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data waves 2007-2019, to analyze the relationship between psychological distress and finances, specifically percent changes in wealth. Two measures of wealth were used for each respondent: percent change in wealth including home equity, and percent change in wealth excluding home equity. The dual measurement of percent change in wealth allows for a better understanding of wealth changes in the presence of psychological distress on financial assets, while also providing insight into the effects of home equity on overall wealth holdings. Social drift theory, which posits that psychological distress increases the likelihood of future financial challenges, was used as the guiding theory of this research. We measure psychological distress with the Kessler-6 index of psychological distress, and hypothesized that higher rates and levels of psychological distress The first paper of this dissertation, The Relationship Between Psychological Distress and Wealth: An Analysis of Household Wealth Changes From 2007-2019 In The United States By Race and Gender, examines the relationship between race, and gender, and psychological distress. We hypothesized that female gender, and Black race was associated with more negative percent changes in wealth overall, and at higher levels of psychological distress. As hypothesized, we found that that female gender and Black race were associated with negative percent changes in wealth overall. Although, when interaction terms were included, "psychological distress x gender female" was associated with negative changes in wealth at higher levels of psychological distress, but race of White, not Black, was associated with negative percent changes in wealth. These findings provide significant opportunity to further examine the relationship between race, and psychological distress in more detail to better understand the levels and other drivers of the differences. The second paper, The relationship between pre-retirement psychological distress and family wealth at retirement: An analysis from 2007 to 2019 in the United States, examines the relationship between psychological distress in pre-retirement years, and percent changes in wealth at retirement. As hypothesized, respondents with a history of higher levels of psychological distress have greater negative percent changes in wealth. While female gender was associated with greater negative percent changes in wealth, White race was also associated with negative percent changes in wealth. The finding that race of White was associated with greater negative percent changes in wealth was unexpected and provides significant opportunity for future research by more detailed race and gender characteristics, and prior levels of wealth.Item Financial planning and household portfolio performance: evidence from the 1998-2013 survey of consumer finances(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015) Lei, Shan; Yao, RuiThis dissertation used datasets from the 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to evaluate the effect of using financial planning services on households' portfolio performance. In this dissertation, portfolio performance was measured by portfolio Sharpe Ratio. Financial planning services were considered to be the professional services provided by lawyers, accountant and financial planners in this dissertation. After controlling other factors, the findings lend empirical support to the belief that financial planning service delivered by professionals benefit households in higher possibility of reaching better portfolio performance. This lends empirical support to claims that professional financial planning services provide value to clients. Implications for individual investors, financial planning professionals, and future research are discussed.Item Taiwan old age allowance policy : effects on saving and consumption(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2013) Lu, I-Ting; Lu, I-Ting; University of Missouri-Columbia. Graduate School. Theses and Dissertations. Dissertations. 2013 Dissertations[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Due to population aging, weakening of family-based support, growing number of poor people and greater risk of poverty for elders, old-age income support is becoming an issue of growing importance throughout Asia. The main purpose of this dissertation is to provide a better understanding of how and to what extent the introduction of an important social assistance program in Taiwan - the Old Age Allowance (OAA) - in the mid-1990s affected the eligible low income households savings and consumption. This study also contributes to the literature by providing direct evidence on whether the OAA has a positive impact on the beneficiaries.