Occupational pensions play a major role in OECD countries and worldwide, complementing retirement income from state sources. At the end of 2009, private pension savings reached USD 25 trillion. Population ageing has led many OECD countries to undertake a wide range of pension reforms – the...

Pension fund members across OECD countries have seen the loss or reduction of pension benefits in recent years. This has been associated with declining assets and increasing liabilities, with accounting and regulation changes crystallising these problems. Consequently, the issue of how to...

We study demand for advice within defined contribution retirement plans offered by 23 institutions where TIAA is sole recordkeeper. Advice seeking increases with age, account balance, annual contribution level, web access, and changes in marital status. More provocatively, participants who...

This paper evaluates a new variant of the popular target date funds used in employer-based retirement savings plans. We call this new variant a "target retirement plan." Instead of increasing the allocation to bond funds as retirement approaches, a target retirement fund gradually purchases...

Recordkeepers in DC pension plans are often paid indirectly in the form of revenue sharing from third-party funds on the menu. We show that these arrangements affect the investment menu of 401(k) plans. Revenue-sharing funds are more likely to be added to the menu and are less likely to be...

We conduct a randomized controlled trial to understand how a web-based retirement saving calculator affects workers' retirement-savings decisions. In both conditions, the calculator projects workers' retirement income goal. In the treatment condition, it also projects retirement income based on...

This paper investigates the effect of state retirement plan mandates on the supply of employer-sponsored retirement plans (ESRPs) by firms. These policies require employers to either (1) offer ESRPs to workers or (2) facilitate automatic payroll deductions that are deposited into individual...

Gross pension wealth shows the size of the lump sum that would be needed to buy a flow of pension payments equivalent to that promised by the mandatory pension system in each country. It is affected by life expectancy and by the age at which people take their pensions, as well by as indexation...