Download This PaperA Fistful of Dollars - Financial Incentives, Peer Information, and Retirement Savings
127 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2017 Last revised: 26 Feb 2021
Date Written: February 25, 2021
Abstract
To understand what motivates individuals to look at their pension situation and take adequate savings decisions, we conduct two field experiments with 226,946 and 257,433 pension fund participants. We find peer-information statements do not increase the rate at which individuals check their pension information, but lottery-type financial incentives do. Offering a few large prizes rather than many small prizes is most effective. However, the uptake of pension information does not lead to improved pension knowledge nor to increased self-reported savings three weeks after our intervention.
Keywords: Retirement Savings, Field Experiment; Financial Incentives; Peer Information
JEL Classification: C93, D83
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )
c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
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Belgium
Inka Eberhardt Hiabu (Contact Author)
University of New South Wales (UNSW) - ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) ( email )
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Sydney, New South Wales NSW 2052
Australia