Financial satisfaction of people in the U.S. rebounded strongly in the third quarter of the year, according to a new survey by the American Institute of CPAs, reversing the lows in the second quarter in the midst of the recession brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The AICPA’s Q3 2020 Personal Financial Satisfaction Index measured 33.1, representing a whopping 99 percent (16.5 point) increase from the previous quarter. That’s the biggest quarterly increase in the 27-year history of the PFSi, and a complete turnaround from the second quarter, when the index had its largest ever quarterly drop.
Fatemeh Khatibloo is a principal analyst at Forrester Research. Fatemeh serves B2C marketing professionals, with a focus on the shifting global consumer data ecosystem. She helps marketers navigate the complex connections between privacy, trust, and ethical data use, including the practices and vendors that can help them bridge the privacy/personalization paradox. Her seminal research on personal identity management (PIDM) describes how consumers will soon manage the sharing of their personal data with each other and with businesses. Her report "Adaptive Intelligence" further defines a framework for privacy-compliant data sharing between organizations to gain insight, reduce risk, and increase profitability.
Fatemeh focuses on privacy, identity, customer insights (CI) services, CI strategy, data monetization, data sharing, adaptive intelligence and consumer preference.
Previous Work Experience
Prior to joining Forrester, Fatemeh was principal of Times Two Marketing, where she built social and multichannel marketing programs designed to engage consumers, drive brand loyalty, and deliver relevant, actionable data to her clients. Prior experience at Binger Catalog Marketing, Abacus, and HagginGroup (now Epsilon) provided her with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing multichannel organizations across a spectrum of channels, market verticals, and disciplines. She has also held multichannel marketing positions on the client side, with firms like The Flax Companies and The Sharper Image.
Fatemeh is a member of the International Associate of Privacy Professional (IAPP) and is a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM). She has served as a judge for the Multichannel Merchant Awards and the ECHO Awards.
Education
Fatemeh studied journalism at The George Washington University.
Mr. Allburn is a 20+ year industry veteran and President/CEO of DataDelta, Inc. which provides CDI-MDM consulting and patent-pending, vendor-neutral match accuracy analysis software used to analyze & optimize the match accuracy of Data Quality, CDI & MDM vendor match engines including custom, in-house match engines. Mr. Allburn has held senior technical and strategic management positions in the fields of Database Marketing, Data Quality, CDI and MDM for industry leading companies such as Metromail / Experian, the IBM TJ Watson Research Center, Firstlogic and Group 1 Software. During his career Mr. Allburn has been responsible for over 200 successful CDI projects in banking, telecom, catalog and other industries. He is an international speaker and instructor for CDI-MDM Workshops, a contributor to DM Review and other publications, and a recognized Expert Witness in the Data Quality and CDI-MDM industries.
Jim Kane is director at Information Services Group, a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The PFSi is built around various factors, including the labor market. The gains can be mainly attributed to improvements in job openings per capita and underemployment. Those had the biggest impact on increasing the overall PFSi. The biggest factor driving the quarter-over-quarter rally was a 35 percent (37 point) decrease in underemployment. A decrease in underemployment improves overall financial satisfaction in the index. While there was an improvement in underemployment in the third quarter from Q2’s record high, it’s still 117 percent above its level a year ago. For the second consecutive quarter, underemployment is still the biggest negative contributor to the average American’s personal financial satisfaction. The Q3 underemployment level reflects data measured through the middle of September.
“As Americans continue to navigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to remember that the fundamentals of financial planning haven’t changed,” said AICPA PFS Credential Committee chair Dave Stolz in a statement Thursday. “Though the stock market’s record performance is encouraging, 2020 has served as a reminder of the volatile nature of markets. As the impact of COVID-19 continues to play out across the country, investors should weigh their risk tolerance and ensure they have ample cash on hand. Further, a tax-efficient financial plan that includes a diversified portfolio can give confidence that long-term financial goals will remain within reach through this period of extreme uncertainty.”
The coronavirus put millions out of work, prompting job openings per capita to show a record plummet earlier this year. In the third quarter, job openings started to recover, climbing 37 percent (20 points) compared to Q2. That factor is now only 10 percent below its measurement a year ago before the pandemic. The Q3 index comes from July data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
