Financial Planning Profiles of American Households: The 2013 Household Financial Planning Survey and Index, September 18, 2013

“Close to nine in 10 American households today engage in some type of formal or informal financial planning. These behaviors range from following a household budget that is not even written down, to setting up a retirement account, to working with a financial professional to pull their financial lives together as part of a comprehensive financial plan. What is the state of financial planning in this country? The Household Financial Planning Index, Survey and Profiles provide the answer. More than a year in development, this benchmark survey of more than 1,000 household financial decision-makers was designed to examine in-depth the kinds of financial planning that Americans do and score them on the basis of how well or poorly they follow established planning principles. Based on Household Financial Planning Index scores, four distinct groups emerge that represent the different levels offinancial planning that are common in this country today…”