Department News

FCS Overview | Department News | Computer Lab | Directions | KON |

Faculty News

Faculty Articles and Books

An article by Professors Robert Mayer and Cathleen Zick and FCS Honors student Michelle Glaittli will appear soon in the Journal of Personal Finance. The article, titled “Public Awareness of Retirement Planning Rules of Thumb,” examines whether people accurately understand four simplifying recommendations with respect to retirement planning (e.g., the percentage of stock in a person’s retirement portfolio should be the 110 minus their age in years; one can safely withdraw 4% of one’s retirement savings each year during retirement). Subjects for the study were over 3000 University of Utah employees. Male respondents and those with higher levels of education were more aware of these rules than females and people with lower levels of education, but fewer than half of respondents were aware of even the best known of the four rules studied. The study’s results have an important implications for financial educators and planners.

Professor Robert Mayer, along with Dr. Larry Kirsch of Portland State University, are writing a book on the successful campaign to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. The Bureau is arguably the most important achievement of consumer protection advance in the last three decades. Drs. Mayer and Kirsch tell the story of its creation, drawing heaving on interviews with 30 activists from the consumer, civil rights, fair housing, labor, and military communities. The Bureau has been in the news lately. The Bureau officially began operations in on July 22, 2011, followed shortly by a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to scale back its independence.

Faculty Honors

Department Award Winner

Marissa Diener, professor, Department of Family and Consumer Studies has received the University of Utah Distinguished Service Award.