We provide a first look into the drivers of household cryptocurrency investing. Analyzing consumer transaction data for millions of U.S. households, we find that, except for high income early adopters, cryptocurrency investors resemble the general population. These investors span all income levels, with most dollars coming from high-income individuals, similar to equity investors. High past crypto returns and personal income shocks lead to increased cryptocurrency investments. Higher household-level inflation expectations also correlate with greater crypto investments, aligning with hedging motives. For most U.S. households, cryptocurrencies are treated like traditional assets.

Optimal debt repayment depends on neither risk preferences nor beliefs, making it a prime application for robo-advice. Yet, consumers often distrust algorithms and might not adopt it. We study this and other trade-offs in a pre-registered experiment in which robo-advice for debt repayment is offered to a representative UK sample. Robo-advice improves repayment choices, especially for the vulnerable, and surprisingly users value robo-advice more than its monetary benefits, perhaps because it eliminates the psychological costs of choosing unassisted. Non-adopters report lower trust in algorithms. Adopters learn from robo-advice; after exposure, adopters are less likely to engage in suboptimal repayment heuristics when unassisted.

We document the wealth effects of a policy that allows early withdrawal of funds from individual pension savings. Through an analysis of transaction-level data in their private brokerage trading accounts, we plausibly identify shifts in investment behavior due to early withdrawals. We find that early pension withdrawals leads to an increase in the trading activities in their brokerage trading accounts. Individuals tend to trade more leveraged instruments and subsequently increase their portfolio volatility, thereby exposing their savings to greater risk. These patterns are more pronounced among males and low-income segment of the population. Additionally, we identify losses arising from their trading decisions, which in turn diminish their retirement wealth.