# Modernizing the Assessment of Financial Decision Making: Development and Evaluation of a Simulated Online Money Management Task in Older Adults

> **NIH NIH K99** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $132,227

## Abstract

The advent of digital finance and online money management (OMM) services has changed the
ways in which we conduct everyday transactions. Based on my preliminary F32 survey findings,
the number of older adults who use technology is drastically growing and the way they approach
financial transactions is certainly changing. Given the increasing number of older adults and
corresponding diseases of aging such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), the vulnerability of older
adults to financial exploitation, and the pervasiveness of financial decision making in everyday
life, it is critical to be able to accurately examine financial decision making using objective,
quantifiable, and ecologically valid tasks that are in keeping with the current trends. In 2016, an
expert panel working for the US Social Security Administration found a gap between the current
assessment of financial decision making and real-world financial performance. The current
proposal seeks to bridge this gap by developing and applying simulation technology-based
OMM task to assess financial decision making in individuals across the spectrum of cognitive
aging. Accordingly, the first two aims (K99/Mentored phase) of the current proposal are to
establish the reliability and validity of a novel, simulated OMM credit card statement review
task in cognitively healthy older adults via psychometrically rigorous approaches. The third and
fourth inferential aims (R00 phase) are to use: (i) a longitudinal strategy to track OMM over time
and in relation to cognitive changes in cognitively healthy older adults, and (ii) a cross-sectional
strategy to examine OMM in two clinical groups (mild AD and those judged as financially
incapable by Adult Protective Services) versus healthy older adults. To accomplish these aims, I
will develop advanced skills to supplement my strong neuropsychological training, by: 1) gaining
expertise in developing and conducting functional assessments using state-of-the-art
technology; 2) developing a deeper knowledge of psychometric measurement to optimize task
design; and 3) enriching my conceptual understanding of financial decision making while
learning how to incorporate neuroeconomic principles and metacognitive assessment in
financial decision making measurement. I have assembled an excellent and well-rounded
mentorship team consisting of a computer scientist, biostatistician, gerontologist, economist,
and expert neuropsychologists. Overall, this K99/R00 proposal enables me to lay a foundation
for an independent research career focused on using technology to accurately conceptualize
financial decision making in cognitively diverse older adults, a goal that is in line with the NIA’s
mission to improve “the health, well-being, and independence of adults as they age”.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9902295
- **Project number:** 5K99AG062783-02
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Preeti Sunderaraman
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $132,227
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9902295

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9902295, Modernizing the Assessment of Financial Decision Making: Development and Evaluation of a Simulated Online Money Management Task in Older Adults (5K99AG062783-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9902295. Licensed CC0.

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