Trends in financial satisfaction among middle-age and old-age Americans, 1972-1996

Using data from the General Social Surveys (1972-1996), this study decomposes the trends in financial satisfaction into intercohort and intracohort patterns to assess the intracohort change and cohort replacement effects on financial satisfaction. The results suggest that a positive intracohort component of financial satisfaction trends, indicating more financial satisfaction with time; and a negative intercohort component, indicating that younger cohorts are less satisfied financially. The multivariate analysis further suggests that the change in financial satisfaction trends is mostly due to a strong intercohort replacement effect. That is, the change in financial satisfaction trends can be largely accounted for by the intercohort replacement effect of younger cohorts' being less satisfied financially.