|               | Board Seal                  | *BOARD OF GOVERNORSOF 
      THEFEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEMWASHINGTON, D. 
C.  20551* |  | 
|-------------- | --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |  | 
|               | *Ben S. 
BernankeChairman*
|April 20, 2010 |                            

|Dear Fellow American:

I am writing to ask for your assistance with a survey about  consumer finances. This survey is one of  the nation's primary sources of information on the financial condition of  different types of households. Our previous  surveys, which date back to 1962, have helped the Federal Reserve and other  parts of the government make policy decisions and have also supported a wide  variety of basic research, public discussion, and education. Our most recent survey has been instrumental  in understanding the effects of the recent financial crisis on American  families.
You have been randomly selected for this survey. This random process is based on a scientific  sampling methodology that allows a relatively small number of families to  represent all types of families in the nation. While this design minimizes the number of  people who we need to interview, it also increases the importance of obtaining  accurate information from as many of the randomly selected people as possible. Your answers are critical to making our survey  data representative.
Within the next few  months, a specially trained interviewer from the National Opinion Research  Center (NORC), a social science research organization at the University of  Chicago acting on our behalf, will contact you to request an appointment for an  interview. Participation in  the survey is voluntary, but I urge you to take part. If you wish to schedule an appointment to  speak with an interviewer, please call 1-888-493-5957.
I assure you that we give the highest priority to guarding  the privacy of all survey participants and the confidentiality of their  answers. Your name will never be  associated with the answers you provide.  In fact, neither I nor anyone else at the Federal Reserve is allowed to  know your name or address. That  information is only available to employees of NORC who are directly involved in  conducting the survey and who have signed a legally binding statement of  confidentiality. At the conclusion of  the project, we require that NORC permanently destroy all name and address  files from the survey. The answers provided by  participants will be used only for statistical purposes.
The interviewer who contacts you can tell you more about  the ways in which participants' answers will be used and our stringent methods  for protecting your privacy. Also, you  can review some key results of the 2007 survey that were published in the *Federal Reserve Bulletin* (383 KB PDF).  A copy of this letter and links to  additional information are available at www.federalreserve.gov/scf.
Thank you in advance for your assistance with our efforts.
Sincerely, Signature of Ben Bernanke
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Last update: April 19, 2010
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