Another indication of investors' lengthening time horizon is the disproportionate growth of retirement accounts. Such accounts mature slowly and are subject to penalties for early withdrawal. Many employer-matched accounts require years of service before the employee can claim the company contributions as his own. Financial sophistication is also increasing. The defined-contribution plans of the 1990s include multiple investment options for employees.
Workers receive fund histories, prospectuses, statements.
While no direct studies have isolated the effect of asset ownership on voting patterns, it stands to reason that its growth would benefit Republicans. But in other ways as well today's stockowners have the characteristics of Republican voters. Over the last five congressional elections, Republicans have polled roughly 1.75 percentage points better among voters with a college degree than among the general electorate. This is the educational cohort whose stockownership grew most rapidly during the years immediately preceding the Republican takeover of Congress. The 1995 Survey of Consumer Finance recorded direct stockownership among only 5.5 per cent of non-white and Hispanic households.