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- Faculty Publications (34)
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- November 2013
- Article
Simplification and Saving
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
The daunting complexity of important financial decisions can lead to procrastination. We evaluate a low-cost intervention that substantially simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement...
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Keywords:
Retirement Savings;
Simplification;
Procrastination;
Behavioral Economics;
Saving;
Motivation and Incentives;
Retirement
Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Simplification and Saving." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 95 (November 2013): 130–145.
- Article
Using Fresh Starts to Nudge Increased Retirement Savings
By: John Beshears, Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman and Shlomo Benartzi
We conducted a field experiment to study the effect of framing future moments in time as new beginnings (or “fresh starts”). University employees (N=6,082) received mailings with an opportunity to choose between increasing their contributions to a savings plan...
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Keywords:
Choice Architecture;
Randomized Field Experiment;
Savings;
New Beginning;
Fresh Start;
Saving;
Retirement;
Behavior
Beshears, John, Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi. "Using Fresh Starts to Nudge Increased Retirement Savings." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 167 (November 2021): 72–87.
- 2020
- Chapter
Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy-Day Savings Accounts
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, J. Mark Iwry, David C. John, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
Roughly half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. When financial shocks occur during their working life, many of these households tap into their retirement savings accounts. We explore the practical considerations and challenges associated with helping households...
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Beshears, John, James J. Choi, J. Mark Iwry, David C. John, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy-Day Savings Accounts." In Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 34, edited by Robert A. Moffitt, 43–90. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.
- 09 Feb 2010
- News
How to get Americans saving for retirement
- 14 Oct 2014
- News
How to Not Outlive Your Retirement Savings
- Article
Liquidity in Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Joshua Hurwitz, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
We compare the liquidity that six developed countries have built into their employer-based defined contribution (DC) retirement schemes. In Germany, Singapore, and the UK, withdrawals are essentially banned no matter what kind of transitory income shock the household...
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Keywords:
Saving;
Financial Liquidity;
Retirement;
Canada;
Germany;
Australia;
United Kingdom;
United States;
Singapore
Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Joshua Hurwitz, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Liquidity in Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105, no. 5 (May 2015): 420–425.
- 2008
- Chapter
The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
This paper summarizes the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement savings outcomes. After outlining the salient features of the various sources of retirement income in the U.S., the paper presents the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement...
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Keywords:
Saving;
Financial Condition;
Retirement;
Investment Funds;
Microeconomics;
Outcome or Result;
Government and Politics;
Financial Institutions;
Macroeconomics;
United States
Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States." In Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas, edited by Stephen J. Kay and Tapen Sinha, 59–87. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
- June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
- Background Note
The U.S. Retirement Savings Market and the Pension Protection Act of 2006
By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung
Provides an overview of the evolution of the private retirement savings market in the U.S. since 1990; the management and administration of defined-contribution (DC) plans; the existing evidence about the investment and savings decisions of participants in DC plans;...
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Keywords:
Investment;
Personal Finance;
Saving;
Government Legislation;
Retirement;
Business and Government Relations;
Financial Services Industry;
United States
Viceira, Luis M., and Helen Tung. "The U.S. Retirement Savings Market and the Pension Protection Act of 2006." Harvard Business School Background Note 207-130, June 2007. (Revised January 2008.)
- Article
The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Katherine L. Milkman
Using a field experiment in a 401(k) plan, we measure the effect of disseminating information about peer behavior on savings. Low-saving employees received simplified plan enrollment or contribution increase forms. A randomized subset of forms stated the fraction of...
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Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Katherine L. Milkman. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions." Journal of Finance 70, no. 3 (June 2015): 1161–1201.
- 21 Feb 2014
- News
Why myRa is not the way to save for retirement
- winter 1999
- Article
The Design and Production of New Retirement Savings Products
By: Dwight B. Crane and Z. Bodie
Crane, Dwight B., and Z. Bodie. "The Design and Production of New Retirement Savings Products." Journal of Portfolio Management 25, no. 2 (winter 1999): 77–82.
- 2022
- Working Paper
Automating Short-Term Payroll Savings: Initial Evidence from a Large U.K. Experiment
By: Sarah Holmes Berk, John Beshears, James J. Choi and David Laibson
Automatic enrollment is often used to increase retirement plan participation. Can it be used to increase short-term savings as well? We evaluate preliminary data from an experiment at a large U.K. employer. After years of offering opt-in short-term payroll savings via...
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Berk, Sarah Holmes, John Beshears, James J. Choi, and David Laibson. "Automating Short-Term Payroll Savings: Initial Evidence from a Large U.K. Experiment." Working Paper, July 2022.
- 1998
- Working Paper
The Design and Production of New Retirement Savings Products
By: Zvi Bodie and Dwight B. Crane
- Forthcoming
- Article
Automatic Enrollment with a 12% Default Contribution Rate
By: John Beshears, Ruofei Guo, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and James J. Choi
We study a retirement savings plan with a default contribution rate of 12% of income, which is much higher than previously studied defaults. Twenty-five percent of employees had not opted out of this default 12 months after hire; a literature review finds that the...
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Keywords:
Retirement Savings;
Defined Contribution Retirement Plan;
Automatic Enrollment;
Retirement;
Saving;
Income;
Decision Choices and Conditions
Beshears, John, Ruofei Guo, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and James J. Choi. "Automatic Enrollment with a 12% Default Contribution Rate." Journal of Pension Economics & Finance (forthcoming). (Pre-published online September 11, 2023.)
- March 2020
- Article
Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Jung Sakong
Previous research has shown that some people voluntarily use commitment contracts that restrict their own choice sets. We study how people divide money between two accounts: a liquid account that permits unrestricted withdrawals and a commitment account that is...
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Keywords:
Quasi-hyperbolic Discounting;
Present Bias;
Sophistication;
Naiveté;
Commitment;
Flexibility;
Savings;
Contract Design;
Defined Contribution Retirement Plan;
401 (K);
IRA;
Saving;
Behavior;
Contracts;
Design;
Interest Rates
Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Jung Sakong. "Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?" Art. 104144. Journal of Public Economics 183 (March 2020).
- 19 May 2014
- News
The Retirement Apocalypse That Isn't Coming
- 02 Jan 2018
- News
Reconsidering Retirement
individuals are losing more than a third of their retirement savings to fees each year, Puritz says. “We want to show people how to retire with more. That is our mission.” It...
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- January 2021
- Case
The FIRE Savings Calculator
By: Michael Parzen and Paul Hamilton
This case follows Carol Muñoz, a member of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) lifestyle movement. At the age of 45, Carol is considering retiring and living off the $1 million she has accumulated. Using Monte Carlo simulation, Carol forecasts the...
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- Research Summary
Working Hard and Investing for an Early Retirement
I examine consumption, leisure, and portfolio choices made over the life-cycle using a model allowing for semi-flexible leisure and an endogenously chosen retirement date. Under a Cobb-Douglas utility specification, I present closed-form expressions for optimal...
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- 30 Jun 2008
- Research & Ideas
Rethinking Retirement Planning
Many of us are sailing toward retirement with the hope that Social Security, personal savings, and money saved in an employer's 401(k) or 403(b) plan will add up to the magic sum required to enjoy our...
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