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Evaluating the Effects of a Low-Cost, Online Financial Education Program
March 12, 2024Abstract: This paper provides evidence on how a low-cost, online, and scalable financial education program influences older participants’ financial knowledge. We tested the program using a field experiment that included short stories covering three fundamental financial education topics: compound interest,… Read More »
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Financial Literacy and Financial Behavior at Older Ages
July 29, 2021Abstract: Recent research has documented that people are increasingly entering old age holding more debt than ever before, and having done little or no retirement planning. This paper examines some of the reasons why older peoples’ financial behaviors depart from… Read More »
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Financial Fragility during the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 17, 2021Abstract: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the US economy was closed to limit the virus's spread, and several emergency interventions were implemented. Our analysis of older (45–75) respondents fielded in April–May of 2020 indicates that about 1 in… Read More »
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Understanding Debt in the Older Population
December 22, 2020Abstract: Poor financial capability can erode well-being in later life. To explore debt and debt management among older Americans, age 51-61, we designed and analyzed a new module in the 2018 Health and Retirement Study along with information from the… Read More »
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How Ordinary Consumers Make Complex Economic Decisions: Financial Literacy and Retirement Readiness
July 13, 2020This paper explores who is financially literate, whether people accurately perceive their own economic decision-making skills, and where these skills come from. Self-assessed and objective measures of financial literacy can be linked to consumers’ efforts to plan for retirement in… Read More »
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Debt Close to Retirement and Its Implications for Retirement Well-being
June 19, 2019Abstract: We analyze debt and debt management of Americans nearing retirement age, and we show that older people have numerous financial obligations that can lead to financial distress. Drawing on the 2015 National Financial Capability Study and an extensive literature… Read More »
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Debt and Financial Vulnerability on the Verge of Retirement
April 27, 2019Abstract : We analyze older individuals’ debt and financial vulnerability using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). In the HRS, we compare three groups of people age 56-61 in 1992, 2004,… Read More »
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Financial Fraud among Older Americans: Evidence and Implications
December 14, 2018Abstract: Objectives: The consequences of poor financial capability at older ages are serious and include making mistakes with credit, spending retirement assets too quickly, and being defrauded by financial predators. Because older persons are at or past the peak of… Read More »
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The Changing Face of Debt and Financial Fragility at Older Ages
June 12, 2018Abstract: U.S. consumer credit and mortgage borrowing expanded rapidly prior to the 2008-9 financial crisis, allowing relatively unsophisticated consumers to decide how much they could afford to borrow. As a consequence, Americans today are more likely to enter retirement in debt… Read More »
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Debt and Financial Vulnerability on the Verge of Retirement
June 30, 2017Abstract: We analyze older individuals’ debt and financial vulnerability using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). Specifically, in the HRS we examine three different cohorts (individuals age 56–61) in 1992, 2004,… Read More »
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Women and Retirement Security
September 30, 2016Summary: Our research investigates whether and how older women’s current and anticipated future labor force patterns has changed over time, to evaluate the factors associated with longer work lives and plans to continue working at older ages. For our empirical… Read More »
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Older Women’s Labor Market Attachment, Retirement Planning, and Household Debt
August 31, 2016Abstract: The goal of this paper is to ascertain whether older women’s current and anticipated future labor force patterns have changed over time, and if so, to evaluate the factors associated with longer work lives and plans to continue work at… Read More »
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Employee Financial Literacy and Retirement Plan Behavior: A Case Study
June 16, 2016Abstract: This paper uses administrative data on all active employees of the Federal Reserve System to examine participation in and contributions to the Thrift Saving Plan, the System’s defined contribution (DC) plan. We link to administrative records a unique employee survey… Read More »
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FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND 401(K) INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY
December 01, 2015Abstract: We explore whether investors who are more financially knowledgeable earn more on their retirement plan investments compared to their less sophisticated counterparts, using a unique new dataset linking administrative data on investment performance and financial knowledge. Results show that the… Read More »
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Optimal Financial Knowledge and Wealth Inequality
December 01, 2015Abstract: We show that financial knowledge is a key determinant of wealth inequality in a stochastic lifecycle model with endogenous financial knowledge accumulation, where financial knowledge enables individuals to better allocate lifetime resources in a world of uncertainty and imperfect… Read More »
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USING A LIFE CYCLE MODEL TO EVALUATE FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
July 30, 2015Abstract: Prior studies disagree regarding the effectiveness of financial literacy programs, especially those offered in the workplace. To explain such measurement differences in evaluation and outcomes, we employ a stochastic life cycle model with endogenous financial knowledge accumulation to investigate how financial education programs… Read More »
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Financial Knowledge and 401(k) Investment Performance: A Case Study
June 22, 2015Abstract: We explore whether investors who are more financially knowledgeable earn more on their retirement plan investments compared to their less sophisticated counterparts, using a unique new dataset linking administrative data on investment performance and financial knowledge. Results show that the… Read More »
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Financial Literacy and Economic Outcomes: Evidence and Policy Implications
June 05, 2015Abstract: This paper reviews what we have learned over the past decade about financial literacy and its relationship to financial decision-making around the world. Using three questions, we have surveyed people in several countries to determine whether they have the fundamental… Read More »
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Financial Literacy and Economic Outcomes: Evidence and Policy Implications
March 27, 2015Abstract: This paper reviews what we have learned about financial literacy and its relationship to financial decision-making around the world. Using three simple questions, we have surveyed people in many countries to determine whether they have the fundamental knowledge of… Read More »
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FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND 401(K) INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE
December 17, 2014Abstract: Using a unique new data set linking administrative data on investment performance and financial knowledge, we examine whether investors who are more financially knowledgeable earn more on their retirement plan investments, compared to their less sophisticated counterparts. We find that… Read More »
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OPTIMAL FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND WEALTH INEQUALITY
December 17, 2014Abstract: Using a stochastic life cycle model with endogenous financial knowledge accumulation, we show that financial knowledge is a key determinant of wealth inequality. The mechanism we posit is that financial knowledge enables individuals to better allocate resources over their lifetimes… Read More »
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FINANCIAL LITERACY AROUND THE WORLD: AN OVERVIEW
December 17, 2014Abstract: In an increasingly risky and globalized marketplace, people must be able to make well informed financial decisions. New international research demonstrates that financial illiteracy is widespread in both well-developed and rapidly changing markets. Women are less financially literate than men, the… Read More »
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THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL LITERACY: THEORY AND EVIDENCE
December 17, 2014This paper undertakes an assessment of a rapidly growing body of economic research on financial literacy. We start with an overview of theoretical research, which casts financial knowledge as a form of investment in human capital. Endogenizing financial knowledge has… Read More »
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FINANCIAL SOPHISTICATION IN THE OLDER POPULATION
October 01, 2014Abstract: This paper examines data on financial sophistication among the U.S. older population, using a special-purpose module implemented in the Health and Retirement Study. We show that financial sophistication is deficient for older respondents (aged 55+). Specifically, many in this… Read More »
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FINANCIAL LITERACY: DO PEOPLE KNOW THE ABCs OF FINANCE?
February 01, 2014Abstract: Increasingly, individuals are in charge of their own financial security and are confronted with ever more complex financial instruments. However, there is evidence that many individuals are not well-equipped to make sound saving decisions. This paper looks at financial literacy,… Read More »
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DEBT AND DEBT MANAGEMENT AMONG OLDER ADULTS
September 01, 2013Abstract: Many individuals lack the financial know-how to manage the complex new financial products increasingly available in the financial marketplace. How people borrow and manage debt has become of increasing policy maker concern, given recent evidence on Americans’ over-indebtedness. As… Read More »
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Financial literacy and retirement planning in the United States
October 11, 2011Abstract: We examine financial literacy in the US using the new National Financial Capability Study, wherein we demonstrate that financial literacy is particularly low among the young, women, and the less-educated. Moreover, Hispanics and African-Americans score the least well on… Read More »