Personal finance for low- and middle-income families differs significantly from that of upper-income families, who tend to be the focus of mainstream finance. The assets of low- and middle-income families have less to do with stock and bond portfolios than they do with human capital, social insurance programs, and homeownership. Social welfare policy should be adjusted to acknowledge this reality.

These remarks were originally presented at the "The Future of Life-Cycle Saving and Investing" conference, co-sponsored by the Boston University School of Management, the Research Foundation of the CFA Institute, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on May 24, 2011. It was first published in Life-Cycle Investing: Financial Education and Consumer Protection (November 2012): 85-96 (doi: 10.2470/rf.v2012.n3.7).