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A Community-Based Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention to Promote Retirement Saving Among Hispanics

Author

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  • Luisa R. Blanco

    (Pepperdine University)

  • O. Kenrik Duru

    (University of California Los Angeles)

  • Carol M. Mangione

    (University of California Los Angeles)

Abstract

We conducted a community-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of an intervention to promote retirement saving among low- and moderate-income, predominantly Spanish-speaking Hispanics, who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement account. Our educational intervention provided participants with key information in Spanish related to financial planning for retirement and made use of “behavioral nudges” to encourage participants to open a government-sponsored retirement saving account, my Retirement Account (myRA). Among 142 participants (70 and 72 in control and treatment groups, respectively), we found a significant Difference in Differences (DD) on the proportion of those who opened a myRA. In the treatment group 14% of participants opened myRA, while none in the control group did. Results from a DD regression showed that after controlling for observable and unobservable characteristics through our design as an RCT, the effect of our intervention was 12%. When we restricted our sample to those participants who had a bank account at some point in the study, we found that the effect of our intervention was higher (17%). We also found that our intervention was effective in increasing self-reported knowledge related to retirement saving and preparedness.

Suggested Citation

  • Luisa R. Blanco & O. Kenrik Duru & Carol M. Mangione, 2020. "A Community-Based Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention to Promote Retirement Saving Among Hispanics," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 300-315, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:41:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-019-09657-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-019-09657-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Blanco, Luisa R. & Hernandez, Isaias & Thames, April D. & Chen, Lucia & Serido, Joyce, 2023. "Mind your money: A community-based digital intervention for improving financial capability among Hispanics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 629-643.
    2. Gallego-Losada, Rocío & Montero-Navarro, Antonio & Rodríguez-Sánchez, José-Luis & González-Torres, Thais, 2022. "Retirement planning and financial literacy, at the crossroads. A bibliometric analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. Md Monzur Morshed & Keshav Lall Maharjan, 2023. "Impact of Motivational Workshop on Financial Inclusion of Rural People in Bangladesh: Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trial," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, December.

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