| Households are not seeking the assistance of financial advisors in planning for retirement. The purpose of this research was to explore how gender, age, marital status, education, and overconfidence explain the likelihood of an individual within a household utilizing a financial advisor. In addition, the association between demographic variables of each household was evaluated. A quantitative non-experimental design using secondary data was used to measure overconfidence in a random sample of individuals with participants from the 2012 National Capability Financial Study conducted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The results revealed that gender, education, and overconfidence were statistically significant in explaining the likelihood of an individual utilizing a financial advisor. The results further revealed that men utilize financial advisors more than women. Moreover, as education increases, the likelihood that an individual will utilize a financial advisor increases. In addition, the results indicate that as overconfidence decreases, there is a large increase in the likelihood that an individual will utilize a financial advisor. However, there is a need for additional research on overconfidence and utilizing a financial advisor in addition to other variables such as employment and health status of an individual, in addition to the current state of the economy. |
