Methodology for Securian's 2009 Study of Financial Values and Debt

Securian worked with Mathew Greenwald & Associates, a leading market research firm specializing in the financial services industry, to implement the study. The study was fielded online from February 6 - 23, 2009 with 1,204 individuals, including 176 in Generation Y, 303 in Generation X, 415 Baby Boomers, and 310 in the Silent Generation. The results are compared with the October 2007 study findings.

All participants in both studies had household incomes above minimum thresholds set for each generation: $20,000 for Generation Y, $40,000 for Generation X, $40,000 for Baby Boomers who were not retired and $20,000 for Boomer retirees, $30,000 for Silents who were not retired and $20,000 for Silent retirees.

Self-employed individuals were excluded from the study to avoid intermixing business debt.

The sample was balanced so each generation had a mix of about half men and half women, a mix of educational levels, and representation of whites and minorities. Data from both studies were weighted by age, education, and gender to the population that meets the income screening criteria. Population characteristics used as weighting targets were determined by analyzing the 2007 Current Population Survey.