Prudential To Release Large Survey On Asian-American Financial Habits

Prudential Financial is gearing up to release findings from what it said is one of the largest ever surveys of financial experiences and behaviors among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

In a press release, the financial services company said the findings will be released on Aug. 25 and will include key findings, including that Asian-American financial experiences are influenced in almost every aspect by their bond with family. What’s more, the report will show that there are a lot of differences between various Asian-American subgroups, from Chinese Americans, to Filipino Americans, to Indian Americans. The differences are in areas such as level of income, type of debts and ownership of financial products. “While Asian Americans surveyed plan to retire more than a year earlier compared to the national average, 69 percent [of] respondents view themselves as not well-prepared to make financial decisions, and very few actually consult financial professionals,” Prudential said in the press release announcing the upcoming survey.

While Asian Americans may have different views on financial products, saving, investing and debt, Americans as a whole are suffering from a lot of debt, which is only expected to get worse. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, American households will soon carry as much debt, on average, as they did at the peak of borrowing before the Great Recession in 2008 — if current trends continue, that is. That dovetails well with international trends. Global debt has been on the increase and has passed 2008 levels already, spurred by up-and-coming Asian markets, which did not quite develop the West’s full-tilt fear of lending post-2008. As of the end of Q1, U.S. households owed $12.25 trillion. That is a 1.1 percent increase from the end of 2015, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. Based on that figure and current growth trends, U.S. household debt will approach its peak of $12.68 trillion, which it hit in the third quarter of 2008.