The Role of Assertiveness in Portfolio Risk and Financial Risk Tolerance among Married Couples

Abstract

The financial risk tolerance of married couples was examined in order to determine if assertiveness impacted their financial decisions. Education, gender, asset ownership, relative income, and the wife’s cohort were considered to ascertain the possible influence of these factors on a couple’s assertiveness. Data were obtained from 110 couples using the Path 6 Profile and the Couples’ Risk Tolerance Questionnaire. Although asset ownership and the wife’s cohort affected the couple’s assertiveness, assertiveness itself did not notably impact their combined financial or portfolio risk tolerance. However, wife’s assertiveness did show a positive correlation with couple’s mean age and a negative correlation with husband’s income. Implications include communication strategies for couples when the wife was born between 1946 - 1967, has earned an advanced degree, and has had significant financial contribution to the family.

Keywords: assertiveness, financial planning, financial risk tolerance, investment risk, Survey of Consumer Finances