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The Age of Reason: Financial Decisions Over the Lifecycle

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Author Info
Sumit Agarwal
John C. Driscoll
Xavier Gabaix
David Laibson

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Abstract

In cross-sectional data sets from ten credit markets, we find that middle-aged adults borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees relative to younger and older adults. Fee and interest payments are minimized around age 53. The measured effects are not explained by observed risk characteristics. We discuss several leading factors that may contribute to these effects, including age-related changes in experience and cognitive function, selection effects, and cohort effects.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13191.

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Date of creation: Jun 2007
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13191

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped

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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.:
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  3. Sumit Agarwal & Souphala Chomsisengphet & Chunlin Liu & Nicholas S. Souleles, 2005. "Do Consumers Choose the Right Credit Contracts?," CFS Working Paper Series 2005/32, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2006. "Shrouded Attributes, Consumer Myopia, and Information Suppression in Competitive Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 121(2), pages 505-540, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Marianne Bertrand & Dean Karlan & Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir & Johnathan Zinman, 2006. "What's Psychology Worth? A Field Experiment in the Consumer Credit Market," Natural Field Experiments 0021, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Sharon M. Oster & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1998. "Aging And Productivity Among Economists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 154-156, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. David B. Gross & Nicholas S. Souleles, 2002. "Do Liquidity Constraints And Interest Rates Matter For Consumer Behavior? Evidence From Credit Card Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(1), pages 149-185, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Ray C. Fair, 1991. "How Fast Do Old Men Slow Down?," NBER Working Papers 3757, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Sumit Agarwal & Chunlin Liu & Nicholas S. Souleles, 2007. "The reaction of consumer spending and debt to tax rebates – evidence from consumer credit data," Working Paper Series WP-07-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Sougata Kerr & Lucia Dunn & Stephen Cosslett, 2004. "Do Banks Use Private Information from Consumer Accounts? Evidence of Relationship Lending in Credit Card Interest Rate Heterogeneity," Working Papers 04-08, Ohio State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  21. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2006. "Financial Literacy and Planning: Implications for Retirement Wellbeing," DNB Working Papers 078, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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  22. repec:bep:eapadv:v:5:y:2005:i:1:p:1323-1323 is not listed on IDEAS
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Full references

Cited by:
(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. Julio J. Rotemberg, 2008. "Behavioral Aspects of Price Setting, and Their Policy Implications," NBER Working Papers 13754, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Annamaria Lusardi, 2008. "Financial Literacy: An Essential Tool for Informed Consumer Choice?," NBER Working Papers 14084, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Annamaria Lusardi, 2008. "Household Saving Behavior: The Role of Financial Literacy, Information, and Financial Education Programs," NBER Working Papers 13824, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Maarten van Rooij & Annamaria Lusardi & Rob Alessi, 2007. "Financial literacy and stock market participation," DNB Working Papers 146, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Annamaria Lusardi & Punam Anand Keller & Adam M. Keller, 2009. "New Ways to Make People Save: A Social Marketing Approach," NBER Working Papers 14715, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jan Rouwendal, 2009. "Housing Wealth and Household Portfolios in an Ageing Society," De Economist, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 1-48, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia Mitchell, 2007. "Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning: New Evidence from the Rand American Life Panel," Working Papers wp157, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
  8. Robin Greenwood & Stefan Nagel, 2008. "Inexperienced Investors and Bubbles," NBER Working Papers 14111, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Chollete, Lorán, 2008. "The Propagation of Financial Extremes: An Application to Subprime Market Spillovers," Discussion Papers 2008/2, Department of Finance and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. [Downloadable!]
  10. Sumit Agarwal & John C. Driscoll & Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2008. "Learning in the Credit Card Market," NBER Working Papers 13822, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Agarwal, Sumit & Amromin, Gene & Ben-David, Itzhak & Chomsisengphet, Souphala & Evanoff, Douglas D., 2008. "The Effects of Mandated Financial Counseling on Household Mortgage Decisions: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Working Paper Series 2008-20, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2009. "How Ordinary Consumers Make Complex Economic Decisions: Financial Literacy and Retirement Readiness," NBER Working Papers 15350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Jason T. Abaluck & Jonathan Gruber, 2009. "Choice Inconsistencies Among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program," NBER Working Papers 14759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell & Vilsa Curto, 2009. "Financial Literacy among the Young: Evidence and Implications for Consumer Policy," NBER Working Papers 15352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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