EVENT
The BeFi Public Policy Roundtable brings together the brightest minds in behavioral finance to discuss research that combines behavioral science and cognitive psychology with economics and finance.
COMMENTARY
In considering foreign application to acquire U.S. companies, the United States needs to consider both risks as well as benefits in both defense and economic dimensions, write Charles Wolf, Jr., Brian Chow, Gregory Jones, and Scott Harold.
REPORT
The fraction of American households that have no bank accounts has long been a concern for policymakers. Estimates from a nationally representative sample, RAND's American Life Panel, suggest that in 2011: 15.5 percent of the population is unbanked; socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals are more likely to be unbanked; unbanked respondents cite financial barriers and personal preference as reasons for not having a bank account.
PROJECT
What effect has the financial crisis had on households and health? RAND researchers seek to quantify the effects of the crisis on older U.S. households, and the adjustments made in response. With this information, they aim to determine whether downturns in economic status are associated with declines in health.
PROJECT
People with low levels of financial literacy are more easily influenced by the default settings of employee savings plans. The Financial Literacy Center is measuring differences in default effects for employees at companies with auto-enrollment retirement plans, focusing on differential behavior by income.
REPORT
A preliminary assessment of the impact of the financial crisis on the civil justice system finds that litigation demands on some parts of the system have increased, that funding for state courts may be trending downward, and that there have been disruptions in the legal services economy, in the provision of legal aid, and in the operation and staffing of courts.
PROJECT
Immigrants are less likely than native-born individuals to use banking services or to participate in formal retirement savings programs. The Financial Literacy Center is identifying the main barriers to these services and developing and testing new products to help improve access.
REPORT
Uses a large-scale field experiment to measure whether people save more if they are better able to understand the relationship between the amount they contribute to a retirement plan and their annual income in retirement.
PROJECT
Hispanic immigrants constitute a rapidly growing share of the U.S. population but are less likely to be financially literate than natives. RAND researchers are investigating barriers to Hispanic immigrants' use of financial services and evaluates financial education materials for them.
PROJECT
Households annuitize very little of their retirement savings. The Financial Literacy Center is studying the annuitization choices of retiring workers, designing and implementing new communication strategies that will raise acceptance of annuities, and examining the effectiveness of these strategies.
PROJECT
Currently, few Americans opt to annuitize their Social Security payments. A better understanding of individuals' preferences for annuitization, obtained via a stated-preference survey, can inform the debate on Social Security reform.
REPORT
Budgetary pressures imposed by Korea's rapidly aging population and declining fertility rates underscore the urgency of a medium-term fiscal consolidation framework. The author presents a plan for fiscal consolidation and budget reform in which a new parliamentary budget process would be established, centered on a fiscally constrained budget resolution that would be scheduled for adoption prior to consideration of revenue or spending…
PROJECT
Women continue to lag behind men, not only in income, but in overall financial capability and retirement preparedness. A financial "bootcamp" may hold promise as a financial education program for early to mid-career women.
REPORT
Many 401(k) retirement plans allow participants to take loans from their accounts before they retire. However, if they have not paid them off before leaving their jobs, they must pay them in full immediately. This study quantifies how many people take out loans and, of those, how many default. It proposes changes in retirement policy to reduce the financial risk posed by these loans, particularly for vulnerable groups.
TOOL
The Health and Retirement Study is a longitudinal survey of the elderly dating back to 1992. With the support of the National Institute on Aging and Social Security Administration, RAND has made five data sets available for researchers.
PROJECT
Research suggests that many individuals claim Social Security retirement benefits at younger ages than may be optimal. The Financial Literacy Center is evaluating alternative ways to convey information about when to claim benefits and offering advice to enhance the Social Security Administration's online claiming website.
PROJECT
People have difficulty understanding how much money they must accumulate in their working years to create a sufficient stream of income once they retire. The Financial Literacy Center is exploring whether disclosing information about the monthly retirement income stream resulting from an individual's retirement account will change savings behavior.
PROJECT
Results from the National Financial Capability Survey show the majority of Americans lack basic numeracy and knowledge of fundamental economic principles. The Financial Literacy Center is analyzing the raw survey data to construct an atlas of financial literacy among U.S. states and among some demographic groups.
PROJECT
Many households use commitment devices such as monthly mortgage payments, Social Security, and payroll 401(k) deductions to help them save. The Financial Literacy Center is trying to design a "new and improved" 401(k) that offers a better combination of liquidity and commitment than the current defined contribution pension.
PROJECT
Building on two video games it designed to build financial skills among low-income women, the Financial Literacy Center is now re-creating those games for Spanish-speaking players.
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