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
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
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.
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.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Aging populations are leading countries worldwide to social security reforms. Many countries are moving from pay-as-you-go to personal retirement account (PRA) systems because of their financial sustainability and positive impact on private savings.
PROJECT
The RAND Behavioral Finance (BeFi) Forum is a collective of academic, financial, and government leaders who meet regularly in person and via web seminars to foster cutting-edge behavioral research for practical application. BeFi's mission is to help consumers make better financial decisions.
PROJECT
Lack of financial literacy has been shown to be a serious obstacle to financial stability. The Financial Literacy Center is using new and innovative methods such as visual tools and the power of stories and narratives to teach basic but fundamental economic concepts that are the foundation of financial decisionmaking.
REPORT
These videos offer presentations from "Emerging Research on Financial Literacy: a Workshop," held by the Financial Literacy Center, a joint center of the RAND Corporation, Dartmouth College, and the Wharton School. The workshop brought together Center scholars with policymakers and practitioners in the financial literacy field.
REPORT
At the first annual conference of the Financial Literacy Research Consortium, scholars discussed how programs, educational products, and policies can best promote financial planning and security. Videos from the presentations are available on rand.org.
REPORT
A Social Security statement is sent annually to each working American age 25 and over and represents the best estimate of the benefits that an American will receive. This brief assesses how well near-retirees predict what they will receive from Social Security and finds that their accuracy did not improve after statements began distribution in 1995.
REPORT
Many people who start new jobs fail to enroll in employer-offered retirement saving programs, even when the employer offers to match their contributions. Researchers are studying the behavior of new hires at six large employers to identify the factors that influence the choice to start saving for retirement.
REPORT
Americans can begin claiming social security benefits between ages 62 and 70. However, the age chosen to begin claiming affects the amount of money received. Researchers found that the way in which benefit information is framed influences someone's choice of claiming age.
REPORT
Many Americans have little understanding of how to plan for retirement. This survey of thousands of Americans found they are ill informed about how the Social Security system works, what benefits they will receive, when they should claim them.
NEWS RELEASE
Couples who score well on a simple test of numeracy ability accumulate more wealth by middle age than couples who score poorly on such a test.
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