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Simplification and Saving

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Author Info
John Beshears
James J. Choi
David Laibson
Brigitte C. Madrian

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Abstract

Many financial decisions that individuals face are complicated and daunting for those who are not financial experts. One important consequence of this complexity is that individuals procrastinate in making these decisions. In this paper, we evaluate a low-cost intervention designed to simplify the retirement saving decision. Individuals received the opportunity to enroll in their workplace savings plan at a pre-selected contribution rate and asset allocation. By collapsing a multidimensional set of options into a binary choice between the status quo and the pre-selected alternative, this intervention increases participation rates by 10 to 20 percentage points among affected employees. We find that similar mechanisms can be used to increase contribution rates among employees who are already participating.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 12659.

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Date of creation: Oct 2006
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12659

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Personal Finance
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information
G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2005. "Reducing the Complexity Costs of 401(k) Participation Through Quick Enrollment(TM)," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000000966, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  2. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian & Andrew Metrick, 2001. "For Better or For Worse: Default Effects and 401(k) Savings Behavior," NBER Working Papers 8651, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Brigitte C. Madrian & Dennis F. Shea, 2001. "THE POWER OF SUGGESTION: INERTIA IN 401(k) PARTICIPATION AND SAVINGS BEHAVIOR," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(4), pages 1149-1187, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2008. "How are Preferences Revealed?," NBER Working Papers 13976, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Phil Armour & Mary Daly, 2008. "Retirement savings and decision errors: lessons from behavioral economics," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Jun 6. [Downloadable!]
  3. John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2006. "The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Savings Outcomes: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 12009, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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