October 2024
04Oct

Savings Goals Matter – Cognitive Constraints, Retirement Planning, and Downstream Economic Behaviors

By Zihan Ye, Thomas Post, Xiaopeng Zou & Shenglan Chen We study how cognitive constraints relate to each distinct step of the planning and execution process for retirement, that is, individuals’ propensity to plan, savings goals set, and economic outcomes (wealth accumulation and portfolio choice). We find that different cognitive constraints play distinct roles: Higher advanced financial literacy (and quantitative reasoning ability) predicts a greater propensity to plan, while higher basic financial literacy and verbal cognition predict setting higher savings...

October 4, 2024
Articles, Savings, , , ,
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September 2024
06Sep

Improving Pension Information: Experimental Evidence on Learning Using Online Resources

By Denise Laroze, Gabriela Fajardo, Charles Noussair, Ximena Quintanilla, Paulina Granados, Pedro Vallette & Mauricio López-Tapia Deciding what to do with one's pension funds is a high-stakes, one-shot decision. Retirement schemes are often described in technical jargon that few people understand. We consider whether the learning process can be eased by providing information in video format (vs. the standard textual format) and by changes to the user interface of the websites on which individuals learn about their pension options. The...

September 6, 2024
Articles, Pension design, , ,
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August 2024
30Aug

Improving Pension Information: Experimental Evidence on Learning Using Online Resources

By Denise Laroze, Gabriela Fajardo, Charles Noussair, Ximena Quintanilla, Paulina Granados, Pedro Vallette, Mauricio López-Tapia Deciding what to do with one's pension funds is a high-stakes, one-shot decision. Retirement schemes are often described in technical jargon that few people understand. We consider whether the learning process can be eased by providing information in video format (vs. the standard textual format) and by changes to the user interface of the websites on which individuals learn about their pension options. The results...

August 30, 2024
System Characterization, ,
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30Aug

Improving Pension Information: Experimental Evidence on Learning Using Online Resources

By Denise Laroze, Gabriela Fajardo, Charles Noussair, Ximena Quintanilla, Paulina Granados, Pedro Valette & Mauricio López-Tapia Deciding what to do with one's pension funds is a high-stakes, one-shot decision. Retirement schemes are often described in technical jargon that few people understand. We consider whether the learning process can be eased by providing information in video format (vs. the standard textual format) and by changes to the user interface of the websites on which individuals learn about their pension options. The...

August 30, 2024
Articles, System Characterization, ,
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23Aug

A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance

By Meir Statman In A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance, Professor Meir Statman, established thought leader in behavioral finance, explores how life well-being, the overarching aim of individuals in the third generation of behavioral finance, is underpinned by financial well-being, and how life well-being extends beyond financial well-being to family, friendship, religion, health, work, and education. Combining recent scientific findings by scholars in finance, economics, law, medicine, psychology, and sociology with real-life stories at the intersection of finances and...

August 23, 2024
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19Aug

Low financial literacy leaves Kenya’s pension coverage at 26%

By MARTIN MWITA   Low financial literacy and awareness among the Kenyan population is to blame for the low pension coverage in the country which remains at a low of 26 per cent, industry players now say. A huge number of Kenyans also work in the informal sector, where pension schemes are either unavailable or underutilised. Without targeted interventions, these individuals remain vulnerable, lacking the financial safety net that pensions provide, the Association of Pension Trustees and Administrators of Kenya (APTAK) has noted. The association...

August 19, 2024
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July 2024
31Jul

Sexual Orientation and Financial Well-Being in the United States

By Christopher S. Carpenter, Kabir Dasgupta, Zofsha Merchant & Alexander Plum We study the relationship between financial well-being and sexual orientation in the United States using Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) data for 2019-2022. We document that people who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual (or LGB) have significantly more difficulty managing financially than similarly situated heterosexual individuals—and this pre-dated the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences are found across a broad array of current and future financial well-being outcomes, including retirement...

July 31, 2024
Articles, Pension design, , ,
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03Jul

Nearly 24 million UK adults have poor financial literacy

Some 23.3mn UK adults have poor financial literacy making them £20,000 worse off compared to those with good financial literacy. The data comes from Abrdn’s first release of its ‘Savings Ladder index’ which gauges financial literacy levels in the UK. Abrdn asked respondents the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Centre’s ‘Big 3’ financial literacy questions and found that 20 per cent could not correctly answer any of the questions asked of them, while a quarter could only answer one. According to Abrdn, those...

July 3, 2024
News,
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June 2024
21Jun

How financial advisors can help LGBTQ clients prepare for retirement

However, as they prepare to settle down and retire, LGBTQ people tend to have higher debt and lower confidence, which can make them particularly vulnerable as they plan for retirement. Advisors can take steps to make sure they are conscious and respectful of how clients' identities may affect their retirement planning. Financial Planning spoke with three LGBTQ advisors who service clients in their community and asked them about how they best provide top-notch advice to their clients. Jana Davis, a financial...

June 21, 2024
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10Jun

UK. DWP issues bank checks warning to pensioners following huge rise in fraud

The Department for Work and Pensions has stated it is reviewing thousands of pensioners' bank statements following a significant increase in fraud. Overpayments of Pension Credit, a supplement for older people with a low income, surged to £520 million in the fiscal year ending April 2024, a substantial rise from the £330 million the previous year. These overpayments incorporate £210 million worth of fraud, considerably more than last year's figure of £120 million. Both rises were highlighted as "statistically significant",...

June 10, 2024
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