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Essays on Housing Wealth and Life Insurance Adequacy: a Focus on U.S. Military and Working Adults

Olsen, Eric Scott
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1731-3890
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721317767192459

Abstract Details

2024, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Consumer Sciences.
Housing wealth and human capital are two of the most important asset classes for most Americans. To better understand these topics, I examine populations of current and prior military service personnel as well as working adults using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study and 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. In the first chapter, I provide an overview of the aims of this dissertation, motivate my research, and summarize methodologies and key findings for each of the three independent studies. In the second chapter, I investigate rates of negative home equity contrasted between active-duty military households and civilian households. Little prior research has been conducted on the topic of housing wealth related to this population who experience multiple and impactful unique considerations. Results show, for a national data sample collected in 2018, that active-duty military households had 6.25 times higher rates of negative home equity as comparted to rates of negative home equity for civilian households. When interacting military status with three financial-behavior moderators that measure financial vulnerability, active-duty military households who exhibit these vulnerabilities have higher predicted probabilities of negative home equity as compared to civilian households. In the third chapter, I investigate rates of home ownership and levels of positive home equity across two age-based cohorts of military service personnel households. The cohorts reflect older Korea/Vietnam and younger post-Vietnam military personnel households. The comparison group are civilian households. Results show that, for a national data sample collected in 2022, the cohorts of military households do not differ from civilian households with regard to the homeownership rate. Financial stress is negatively related to home ownership. Results document that there is a negative association between Post-Vietnam era military households and higher levels of home equity. The findings do not indicate that differences in financial stress between military and civilian households were associated with home equity accumulation. The fourth chapter investigates the role of life insurance and wealth for households in the case of the death of an income earner. The study focuses on five measures of financial adequacy in the case of the death of an income earner for working adults, and their association with life insurance product type and financial knowledge. Results show, for a national data sample collected in 2022, that especially the combination of term and cash value life insurance is associated with higher odds of financial adequacy, relative to no holdings of life insurance. Results indicate weak relationships between greater objective and subjective financial knowledge or use of financial professionals with financial adequacy in the case of the death of an income earner. The findings provide an in-depth analysis of life insurance coverage, product type selection, and financial knowledge in the mitigation of the risk of loss of human capital. In the fifth chapter, I summarize the conclusions from the three studies and highlight their theoretical and practical contributions. The findings in this dissertation aim to better inform policy makers, educators, researchers, and financial professionals about the role and nuance of housing wealth and human capital for the economic security of military populations and working adults.
Cäzilia Loibl (Advisor)
Sherman Hanna (Committee Member)
Andrew Hanks (Committee Member)
Robert Scharff (Committee Member)
176 p.
Behavioral Sciences; Business Administration; Finance
Housing Wealth; Life Insurance; Human Capital; Financial Adequacy; Military Personnel; Negative Home Equity; Home Ownership; Home Equity; Behavioral Finance

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Olsen, E. S. (2024). Essays on Housing Wealth and Life Insurance Adequacy: a Focus on U.S. Military and Working Adults [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721317767192459

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Olsen, Eric. Essays on Housing Wealth and Life Insurance Adequacy: a Focus on U.S. Military and Working Adults. 2024. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721317767192459.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Olsen, Eric. "Essays on Housing Wealth and Life Insurance Adequacy: a Focus on U.S. Military and Working Adults." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721317767192459

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1721317767192459
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© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.