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Abstract
This study examined the relationship between low-income employees use of information from a formal advisor and their financial behaviors. A second goal was to determine if the financial behaviors of low-income employees differed from those of employees in other income segments of the workforce. A unique contribution of this study was that the income segmentation was determined by a combination of household size and income to more accurately capture an employees financial burden. The conceptual framework underlying this study was the Andersen Behavioral Model which was adapted to financial services. This model suggests that financial information or financial services from financial professionals would have a positive influence on the financial status of an individual. Data for this study came from the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances which was sponsored by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Furthermore, ordered logistic regression models were used to analyze data and test the studys hypotheses. The researcher found that the financial behaviors of low-income employees were significantly different from and less acceptable than the financial behaviors of middle-income and high-income employees. Likewise, the researcher found that there is a significant and positive relationship between the use of information from a formal advisor and the acceptable financial behaviors of low-income employees.