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Turning Workers into Savers? Incentives, Liquidity, and Choice in 401(k) Plan Design

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  • Olivia S. Mitchell
  • Stephen P. Utkus
  • Tongxuan (Stella) Yang

Abstract

We develop a comprehensive model of 401(k) pension design that reflects the complex tax, savings, liquidity and investment incentives of such plans. Using a new dataset on some 500 plans covering nearly 740,000 workers, we show that employer matching contributions have only a modest impact on eliciting additional retirement saving. In the typical 401(k) plan, only 10 percent of non-highly-compensated workers are induced to save more by match incentives; and 30 percent fail to join their plan at all, despite the fact that the company-proffered match would grant them a real return premium of 1-5% above market rates if they contributed. Such indifference to retirement saving incentives cannot be attributed to liquidity or investment constraints. These results underscore the need for alternative approaches beyond matching contributions, if retirement saving is to become broader-based.

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  • Olivia S. Mitchell & Stephen P. Utkus & Tongxuan (Stella) Yang, 2005. "Turning Workers into Savers? Incentives, Liquidity, and Choice in 401(k) Plan Design," NBER Working Papers 11726, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11726
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Choi, James J. & Laibson, David & Madrian, Brigitte C., 2004. "Plan Design and 401(K) Savings Outcomes," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(2), pages 275-298, June.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Cardella, Eric & Kalenkoski, Charlene M. & Parent, Michael, 2018. "Less Is Not More: Information Presentation Complexity and 401(k) Planning Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 11538, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Mitchell, O.S. & Piggott, J., 2016. "Workplace-Linked Pensions for an Aging Demographic," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 865-904, Elsevier.
    3. Engelhardt, Gary V. & Kumar, Anil, 2008. "Money on the table: Some evidence on the role of liquidity constraints in 401(k) saving," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 402-404, May.
    4. Gary V. Engelhardt & Anil Kumar, 2007. "Employer Matching and 401(k) Saving: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," NBER Chapters, in: Public Policy and Retirement, Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES), pages 1920-1943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Olivia S. Mitchell & Gary R. Mottola & Stephen P. Utkus & Takeshi Yamaguchi, 2006. "The Inattentive Participant: Portfolio Trading Behavior in 401(k) Plans," Working Papers wp115, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    6. Gur Huberman & Sheena Iyengar & Wei Jiang, 2007. "Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Determinants of Participation and Contributions Rates," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 31(1), pages 1-32, February.
    7. Teresa Ghilarducci & Joelle Saad-Lessler & Gayle Reznik, 2015. "Earnings Experience and its Impact on 401(k) Contribution Behavior: The Roles of Earnings Shocks, Spousal Behavior and Pension Plan Details," SCEPA working paper series. 2015-01, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    8. Jun Feng, 2018. "Voluntary Retirement Savings: The Case of Australia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 2-18, March.
    9. Kosei Fukuda, 2007. "Age-period-cohort decomposition of social security taxes and benefits in the USA and Japan," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 227-240, November.
    10. Timothy Jun Lu & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2010. "Borrowing from Yourself: The Determinants of 401(k) Loan Patterns," Working Papers wp221, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    11. Youngkyun Park, 2017. "The Influence of Plan Demographics on Contribution Behavior of 401(k) Participants," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 20(1), pages 7-35, March.
    12. Ghilarducci, Teresa & Saad-Lessler, Joelle & Reznik, Gayle, 2018. "Earnings volatility and 401(k) contributions," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(4), pages 554-575, October.
    13. Robert L. Clark & Jennifer A. Maki & Melinda Sandler Morrill, 2014. "Can Simple Informational Nudges Increase Employee Participation in a 401(k) Plan?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(3), pages 677-701, January.
    14. Sadettin Haluk Citci & Halit Yanikkaya, 2023. "The Impacts of Matching Contributions on Retirement Savings: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in Turkey," Working Papers 2022-02, Gebze Technical University, Department of Economics.
    15. Johannes Hagen & Daniel Hallberg & Gabriella Sjögren, 2022. "A Nudge to Quit? The Effect of a Change in Pension Information on Annuitisation, Labour Supply and Retirement Choices Among Older Workers," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1060-1094.
    16. Love, David A., 2017. "Countercyclical retirement accounts," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 32-48.
    17. Geng Li & Paul A. Smith, 2009. "New evidence on 401(k) borrowing and household balance sheets," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-19, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    18. Kim, Chul Ju (ed.), 2019. "Aging Societies: Policies and Perspectives," ADBI Books, Asian Development Bank Institute, number 9, Décembre.
    19. Mr. Nicolas R Blancher & François Haas & Mr. John Kiff & Ms. Oksana Khadarina & Mr. Paul S. Mills & Parmeshwar Ramlogan & Mr. William Lee & Ms. Yoon Sook Kim & Todd Groome & Mr. Shinobu Nakagawa, 2006. "The Limits of Market-Based Risk Transfer and Implications for Managing Systemic Risks," IMF Working Papers 2006/217, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Zhou, Jie, 2009. "The effects of employer matching and income risk in 401(k) plans," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1193-1200, November.
    21. David Tuesta, 2015. "The informal economy and the constraints that it imposes on pension contributions in Latin America," Working Papers 1419, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    22. Alicia H. Munnell & Laura Quinby, 2010. "Why Did Some Employers Suspend Their 401(k) Match?," Issues in Brief ib2009-10-2, Center for Retirement Research, revised Feb 2010.
    23. Takeshi Yamaguchi, 2006. "Understanding Trading Behavior in 401(k) Plans," Working Papers wp125, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    24. Keenan Dworak-Fisher, 2008. "Encouraging Participation in 401(k) Plans: Reconsidering the Employer Match," Working Papers 420, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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