Human Ecology Research

The Korean Home Economics Association (대한가정학회)
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Financial Portfolio Analysis of Single Households: Monthly Saving and Financial Assets

1인가구의 금융포트폴리오 분석

  • Samho Jeong (Department of Wealth Management, Sangmyung University) ;
  • Se-Jeong Yang (Division of Economics and Finance, Sangmyung University)
  • 정삼호 (상명대학교 웰스매니지먼트학과) ;
  • 양세정 (상명대학교 경제금융학부)
  • Received : 2024.03.29
  • Accepted : 2024.06.12
  • Published : 2024.08.30
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the financial portfolios of single-person households. For the analysis, data from the Korean Labor Panel Survey (2021) was utilized, comprising 2,905 single-person households. The major findings are as follows: First, the proportion of households with monthly savings was 32.0%, while the proportion of households holding financial assets was 72.1%. Second, regarding the composition of monthly savings, single-person households predominantly held savings accounts (93.3%), followed by insurance (4.7%), with cumulative funds at a mere 0.8%. The composition of financial assets showed that the majority were in bank deposits (78.5%), followed by risk management assets (18.0%), and investment assets (2.4%). Third, multivariate analysis results revealed that younger age, higher education level, and better financial factors were associated with a higher probability of having monthly savings. The results for financial assets were largely similar, with females showing a higher likelihood of asset possession compared to males. Fourth, the proportions of both bank savings in total savings and insurance generally had opposing effects. Fifth, age group had the greatest influence on the proportions of safety and insurance assets, followed by income group. Middle-aged households had lower proportions of safety assets but higher proportions of insurance assets compared to young households, while the opposite trend was observed for elderly households. Middle-income households had higher proportions of insurance assets compared to low-income households, whereas high-income households had higher proportions of investment assets. Lastly, cluster analysis categorized single-person households' financial portfolios into five groups: Group 1 (32.2%): "Old-Sustain" characterized by insufficient current income but economically stable retirement. Group 2 (29.4%): "Financially Active" engaging in various financial activities due to relatively high education and employment rates. Group 3 (28.0%): "Financially Inactive" classified as elderly groups with minimal financial activities. Group 4 (9.1%): "Risk Financial Structure" consisting of relatively young individuals focused on risk management assets but facing issues in financial asset management due to high-risk assets and financial loans. Group 5 (1.3%): "Stable-Insurance Oriented" with high financial assets and income concentrated in insurance for both savings and financial assets.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was funded by a 2023 Research Grant from Sangmyung University.

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