Chapter 3

Trends in household portfolio composition∗

Jesse Bricker1, Kevin B. Moore1, and Jeffrey Thompson2     1Research and Statistics, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC, United States     2New England Public Policy Center, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

In this chapter, we use data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to explore how household asset portfolios in the United States have evolved from 1989 to 2016. Throughout this period, two key assets—housing and financial market assets—have driven the aggregate household balance sheet evolution. However, aggregates mask great heterogeneity in balance sheet composition across the wealth distribution, and most families hold a relatively ...

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