Mustache Wearers Earn More but Save Less

An AOL.com news account about the survey by the St. Louis-based American Mustache Institute (AMI) said the poll found that mustached Americans earned 8.2% more on average than those with beards and 4.3% more than those sans facial hair.

From a financial planning perspective, however, the good news apparently ends there. Mustache wearers also tended to spend 11% more and save 3% less than their less hairy counterparts, the poll found.

The mustached Americans apparently are aware of their financial shortcomings. Of those surveyed, 95.1% said they “wish it was easier to keep track” of income and expenses while more than half said they would consider seeking outside counsel about personal finances.

“If efficiencies in financial management could be realized in the near-term,” said principal research consultant Hans Menjou-Bärtchen. “It’s highly probable that over the next four to five years, we will see Mustached Americans’ savings rate grow to surpass their bearded and shaven peers. The lifestyle necessitates simplification of personal finances and our research shows that Mustached Americans see improving personal financial management as critical to upward net worth mobility.”

The study found that the majority of mustached Americans' disposable income was spent on toiletries such as cologne, and teeth whitening solutions (10%); alcoholic beverages such as beer and Rich & Rare Canadian Whisky (11%); 1970s and '80s-era music memorabilia, most commonly by Hall & Oates (1%); clothing apparel consisting of Speedo swimsuits, leather pants, and tank-top tee-shirts; and DVD movies most commonly starring Billy Dee Williams, Chuck Norris, Richard Roundtree, and Burt Reynolds.

Bearded Americans, according to the study, spend the majority of their income on breakfast pastries (14%), beard combs (2%), lice removal kits (1%), overalls (12%), and semi-automatic weapons (18%).

Clean-shaven Americans said they most commonly spend their income on items such as Levi's Dockers brand apparel (15%), signet rings (7%), fitness water and other sports-related beverages (12%), vitamin supplements (13%), strip-mall haircuts (9%), and Zima brand adult beverages (8%).

Financial planning Web site Quicken and the AMI commissioned Menjou-Bärtchen Research Consultants to conduct a survey during the first six months of 2009 using a random sample of 2,000 Mustached Americans, 2,000 bearded Americans, and 2,000 clean-shaven Americans.

The survey report is available here .