WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

Mail: Financial Matters

Sibling Mail: Financial Matters Module

OVERVIEW

The Financial Matters Module is new to the 2011 mail survey. It relies on 12
statements about finance - constructed in terms of money management, banking,
and investing - to gauge the participant's opinions and their level of
confidence in those opinions. For each statement, the participant is asked to
indicate whether they believe it to be more generally true or false by circling
a scaled percentage ranging between 50 and 100 representing the likelihood or
confidence they associate with its perceived truth or falsehood. If, for
example, the participant considered the statement "mutual funds do not pay a
guaranteed rate of return" to be generally true, but still had some
reservations, they might circle 80 to signify a belief that it is 80% likely to
be true. If the participant thinks a statement is surely true or false, they
are instructed to circle 100, indicating 100% confidence in its likelihood of
being such. If, on the other hand, the participant is completely unsure and has
"no idea" whether a statement is true or false, they are instructed to make
their best possible guess and circle 50, signifying a bare minimum 50%
confidence in their opinion of its truth or falsehood. Whether a statement is,
in actuality, true or false is not important here; the section is simply
intended as a gauge of participants' opinions on financial matters.   


BRIEF VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS

    Variable ranges reference dataset/codebook order and are not necessarily 
    alphabetical.
    _____________________________________________________________________

    PFIN01RE-PFIN12RE:		  Perceived Truth or Falsehood of Statements
    				  About Financial Matters

pfin01re: Mutual funds do not pay a guaranteed rate of return - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_1, yfin1_a

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 178 308 486
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 44 33 77
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 9 19 28
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 96 96 192
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 32 30 62
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 34 37 71
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 29 32 61
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 20 27 47
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 91 128 219
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 80 130 210
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 41 39 80
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 60 64 124
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 80 102 182
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 122 106 228
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 500 406 906
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin02re: You should invest in either mutual funds or a large number of different stocks instead of just a few stocks - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_2, y_fin1_b

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 183 298 481
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 44 34 78
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 4 12 16
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 33 52 85
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 14 14 28
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 15 25 40
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 25 23 48
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 18 26 44
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 63 95 158
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 80 104 184
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 55 82 137
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 121 101 222
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 183 192 375
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 203 178 381
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 375 321 696
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin03re: Using money in a bank savings account to pay off credit card debt is usually a bad idea - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_3, y_fin1_c

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 168 277 445
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 52 28 80
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 2 3 5
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 432 352 784
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 143 139 282
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 113 105 218
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 67 77 144
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 31 52 83
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 49 64 113
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 35 67 102
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 19 32 51
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 51 59 110
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 74 78 152
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 53 68 121
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 127 156 283
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin04re: Financially, investing in the stock market is no better than buying lottery tickets - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_4, y_fin1_d

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 167 277 444
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 47 21 68
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 2 5 7
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 488 367 855
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 155 125 280
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 141 159 300
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 98 117 215
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 52 76 128
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 73 147 220
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 55 96 151
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 32 38 70
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 29 28 57
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 23 30 53
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 16 26 42
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 38 45 83
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin05re: When an investor spreads money between 20 stocks, rather than 2, the risk of losing a lot of money decreases - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_5, y_fin1_e

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 175 300 475
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 51 24 75
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 4 6 10
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 38 32 70
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 22 21 43
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 30 28 58
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 25 37 62
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 20 33 53
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 42 96 138
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 68 131 199
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 51 85 136
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 115 139 254
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 202 192 394
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 206 170 376
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 367 263 630
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin06re: Taxes do not affect how you should invest your money - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_6, y_fin1_f

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 181 303 484
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 51 27 78
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 3 4 7
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 350 271 621
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 112 121 233
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 150 115 265
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 75 87 162
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 59 79 138
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 63 126 189
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 56 97 153
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 47 49 96
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 63 56 119
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 69 90 159
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 50 53 103
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 87 79 166
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin07re: If you start out with $1,000 and earn an average return of 10% per year for 30 years, after compounding, the initial $1,000 will have grown to more than $6,000 - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin1_7, y_fin1_g

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 201 343 544
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 47 17 64
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 3 17 20
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 75 100 175
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 18 22 40
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 10 19 29
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 10 26 36
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 18 15 33
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 37 75 112
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 61 140 201
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 40 53 93
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 53 79 132
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 124 123 247
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 148 142 290
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 571 386 957
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin08re: Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin2_8, y_fin2_h

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 192 340 532
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 49 17 66
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 5 12 17
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 383 288 671
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 163 167 330
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 176 146 322
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 145 123 268
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 60 68 128
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 125 216 341
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 50 84 134
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 19 24 43
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 10 27 37
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 20 23 43
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 8 9 17
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 11 13 24
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin09re: Even older retired people should hold some stocks - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin2_9, y_fin2_i

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 189 315 504
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 44 18 62
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 4 4 8
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 33 57 90
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 19 21 40
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 29 32 61
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 42 26 68
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 21 35 56
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 91 120 211
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 143 211 354
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 114 103 217
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 128 136 264
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 198 164 362
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 145 121 266
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 216 194 410
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin10re: An older person with $100,000 to invest should hold riskier financial investments than a younger person with $100,000 to invest - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin2_10, y_fin2_j

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 187 311 498
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 51 18 69
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 4 5 9
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 689 656 1345
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 173 163 336
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 106 106 212
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 54 55 109
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 27 35 62
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 64 94 158
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 18 33 51
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 5 12 17
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 4 10 14
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 10 21 31
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 8 10 18
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 16 28 44
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin11re: It is important to take a look at your investments periodically to see if you need to make changes - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin2_11, y_fin2_k

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 187 303 490
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 53 19 72
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 3 2 5
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 3 5 8
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 3 2 5
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 1 3 4
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 3 2 5
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 0 1 1
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 10 14 24
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 25 51 76
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 25 24 49
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 50 61 111
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 122 101 223
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 168 143 311
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 763 826 1589
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident."

pfin12re: It is best to avoid owning stocks of foreign companies - true or false?

Data source: Sibling Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: Mail
Source variables: y_fin2_12, y_fin2_l

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 3014 2774 5788
-29 LEFT BLANK ON SAQ 191 317 508
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 6 7 13
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 46 15 61
-3 REFUSED 1 3 4
-1 DON'T KNOW 3 9 12
0 SURELY FALSE - 100% CONFIDENT 232 173 405
10 90% CONFIDENT FALSE 102 91 193
20 80% CONFIDENT FALSE 161 115 276
30 70% CONFIDENT FALSE 139 119 258
40 60% CONFIDENT FALSE 79 87 166
49 GUESS FALSE - 50% CONFIDENT 141 239 380
51 GUESS TRUE - 50% CONFIDENT 121 133 254
60 60% CONFIDENT TRUE 47 54 101
70 70% CONFIDENT TRUE 45 53 98
80 80% CONFIDENT TRUE 42 47 89
90 90% CONFIDENT TRUE 29 47 76
100 SURELY TRUE - 100% CONFIDENT 38 58 96
Note: The survey question this variable was based on was prefaced by the following set of instructions: "Next we would like to ask you a series of statements about financial matters. We would like to know whether, in your opinion, the statement is generally "True" or generally "False" and how strongly you believe this to be the case.
Note: There were some participants who circled 50% for both the true and false categories. These responses were recorded as "Guess False - 50% Confident.

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