Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Post

The inaugural report in a new quarterly series summarizes key observations from the Consumer Finance Institute’s Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations (LIFE) Survey. The survey gathers data on consumer experiences with employment, income, financial well-being, and future expectations. Key findings from the January 2024 survey: • Slightly more than one-third of currently employed respondents reported concerns about exposure to illness at work. For nonemployed respondents of working age, transportation concerns and job stability were the most cited anticipated challenges. • Respondents in January 2024 were more positive about their income prospects than respondents were in January 2023. Higher-earning respondents are significantly more likely than lower-earning respondents to believe their incomes will increase. • About one-half of all respondents reported experiencing one or more financial disruptions in the prior 12 months, including significant nonmedical expenses and rising housing costs. • Nearly 70 percent of respondents reported using financial coping strategies to help make monthly bill payments, with cutting discretionary expenses the most common response. • Slightly more than one-third of respondents are concerned about making ends meet in the next 6 months; including nearly one-quarter of respondents who can currently pay all of their bills. Read the report for additional insights. https://bit.ly/3Jdvr6d #ConsumerFinance #LaborMarket #LIFESurvey

This morning, the Consumer Finance Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released the second quarterly report on the results of the CFI Consumer LIFE Survey. The survey provides a window into the financial lives of consumers, focusing on financial disruptions and coping strategies across the demographic spectrum. Key observations from the April 2024 survey include the following: - Respondents who are currently able to pay all their bills are more worried about making ends meet in the coming months that they were last quarter. - Compared with last year, more respondents are struggling to pay some or any of their monthly bills. - Overall sentiment change from last year remains steady and slightly positive. https://lnkd.in/dPcCHB2S

Consumer Duty firm survey – Autumn 2023 results #consumerduty #costoflivingcrisis The Financial Conduct Authority has published the results of their second firm survey in 2023 around firm 'readiness' for the Duty. DEMSA reported on the first survey results, that resulted in Jonathan Phelan and Dominic Middleton presenting at an FCA webinar to the debt advice sector on 12 July 2023. Ipsos UK conducted wave 2 with 634 firms not surveyed previously. They were particularly interested in how smaller firms with less that 50 employees had implemented the Duty and whether firms had made changes to their consumer contracts and financial promotions. Debt advice firms, which lagged behind others in preparedness in Spring, reported improvement bringing them closer to other sectors. This showed the benefits of FCA targeted engagement and sector messaging. Romana Pearson ACII reflected this in her comments on 6 December 2023 in the FCA Duty webinar. 74% of firms surveyed in wave 2 reported that they had conducted a 'fair value' assessment. Ahead of our 'intelligibility' event tomorrow (21/2/2024), 'outcomes monitoring' was reported as most difficult to implement. 38% of firms surveyed had improved significant consumer contracts and 30% had identified or made significant improvements to their marketing strategies. It is interesting to see the improvement in outcomes from wave 1 to wave 2. For example, in response to the question "To what extent do you consider the Consumer Duty relevant to your organisation?" - 89% (of sample of 73) agreed in wave 2, compared with 58% (of sample of 88) in wave 1. Duty 'champions' in our sector rose from 78% to 88%. The 'Fair Value' assessment results would suggest that many were community debt advice providers. Q16.3 is quite telling for debt advice firms, where only 48% had completed the end-to-end customer journey. 60% had assessed the needs of customers with characteristics of #vulnerability. Bizarre that 7% didn't think this was applicable. Another strange result was the supply chain question, with only 14% having completed this. G27 around financial promotions and communications is a real worry with only 16% having completed this fully. One for Chris Warburton to explore tomorrow. G22 around pre-contract information and contract reviews with customers makes very interesting reading, probably highlighting that not many commercial debt management firms were involved in wave 2. G22a suggest that most focus had been on customer understanding and support. Outcomes monitoring (including data and metrics) is the hardest item to implement across the board. My initial reaction is that there is still a lot of work to be done in the 'bedding in' process. Frontline staff training remains a priority in 'operationalising' updated policy registers and assessing customer outcomes. Peter Wordsworth Craig Simmons Minesh Patel Caroline Darnbrook https://lnkd.in/gVHQBVMM

What prompts people to seek financial advice or guidance, and when? ➡️ 48% seek financial advice to help them with a key milestone or life event. ➡️ 18% of those surveyed sought financial advice due to the cost-of-living crisis, rising to 24% of 18-34 year-olds. ➡️ 12% said a change in job status had triggered a need for financial advice or guidance. ➡️ 27% sought advice when their savings and investments had grown to a point where they thought they should. Our relationship with our money changes as we get older. Whatever the reason to start an advice journey, the Report makes clear that the type of advice you want, or that you need, depends on your age and life stage. As we age, other financial priorities come to the fore, such as planning for retirement, or leaving a legacy. The Report details these three key stages and the valuable role advice plays in helping people achieve their goals and overcoming challenges. Source: Opinium surveyed just under 12,000 UK adults nationwide in two polls between May and August 2024. Quotas and post-weighting were applied to the sample to make the dataset representative of the UK adult population. Quantitative data referenced in this chapter is sourced from the first poll, which had a total sample of 7,995 respondents. Survey included those aged 18-34 (1,940), 35-54 (2,654) and 55 and over (3,401). Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ggJfZR4T

In this week's Update, we present the latest data on #PrimaryVotingIntention, #ConsumerConfidence & #Superannuation Satisfaction. Read More: https://ow.ly/827350QM7yX

2024 is upon us, and with a new year comes new resolutions; in fact, over 62% of Americans make New Year's resolutions every year. Resolutions reflect our most desired changes, and 38% of Americans made a New Year's resolution to improve their finances, according to a new Forbes article. By the numbers, people generally abandon their resolutions within 2 months, when working on them on their own., unless they have support. At Merrill Lynch, you have a dedicated advisor and the support of Bank of America's eight lines of business all focused on your goals. From your first conversation on, your advisor will provide personalized advice committed to helping you reach your goals. If you find yourself among the 38% who made a resolution about finances, maybe it's time to reach out to a Merrill advisor to develop your personalized strategy.

The latest figures from YouGov show a continued rise in Consumer confidence ,mainly driven by increases in Business Activity and improvements in Household Finances , but concerns remain about Job Security and House Prices in the future .

What prompts people to seek financial advice or guidance, and when? ➡️ 48% seek financial advice to help them with a key milestone or life event. ➡️ 18% of those surveyed sought financial advice due to the cost-of-living crisis, rising to 24% of 18-34 year-olds. ➡️ 12% said a change in job status had triggered a need for financial advice or guidance. ➡️ 27% sought advice when their savings and investments had grown to a point where they thought they should. Our relationship with our money changes as we get older. Whatever the reason to start an advice journey, the Report makes clear that the type of advice you want, or that you need, depends on your age and life stage. Source: Opinium surveyed just under 12,000 UK adults nationwide in two polls between May and August 2024. Quotas and post-weighting were applied to the sample to make the dataset representative of the UK adult population. Quantitative data referenced in this chapter is sourced from the first poll, which had a total sample of 7,995 respondents. Survey included those aged 18-34 (1,940), 35-54 (2,654) and 55 and over (3,401).

What prompts people to seek financial advice or guidance, and when? ➡️ 48% seek financial advice to help them with a key milestone or life event. ➡️ 18% of those surveyed sought financial advice due to the cost-of-living crisis, rising to 24% of 18-34 year-olds. ➡️ 12% said a change in job status had triggered a need for financial advice or guidance. ➡️ 27% sought advice when their savings and investments had grown to a point where they thought they should. Our relationship with our money changes as we get older. Whatever the reason to start an advice journey, the Report makes clear that the type of advice you want, or that you need, depends on your age and life stage. Source: Opinium surveyed just under 12,000 UK adults nationwide in two polls between May and August 2024. Quotas and post-weighting were applied to the sample to make the dataset representative of the UK adult population. Quantitative data referenced in this chapter is sourced from the first poll, which had a total sample of 7,995 respondents. Survey included those aged 18-34 (1,940), 35-54 (2,654) and 55 and over (3,401).

Welcome to the monthly random number generator day (courtesy of today's email from DB Economist @Jim Reid) – aka the US employment report! 😂 It is always helpful to remember that the reported numbers, which are the output of a survey whose response rates have been declining steadily, have a wide confidence band around them. Let's not forget the challenges behind the numbers: Household Survey Struggles: Declining response rates (survey fatigue, no more landlines, spam aversion, privacy... the whole shebang) is making this data set less reliable. Revision Roulette: Since 2010, the median absolute revision to initial NFP figures has been a hefty 47.5k either way! Already this year, we've seen notable revisions: January's number was revised down by -97k from the initial release, while February's was down by -34k. Key Takeaways: Expect the Unexpected: Employment figures are part estimate, part educated guesswork. Long-Term View: Don't fixate on one month's data. The trends tell the real story. So, let's take a step back and recognize that the preliminary numbers we see today may not be the final story. The Establishment Survey's sampling error, annual benchmark revisions, and methodology for accounting for business births and deaths all play a role in shaping the data. Let's be cautious when interpreting the numbers and avoid making conclusions based on initial releases alone. Instead, let's wait for the revisions and consider the broader context before making informed decisions. #economics #employment #dataanalysis #USemploymentreport #EmploymentData #EconomicIndicators #EconTwitter #DataLiteracy #banks #cu #credit