Can governments increase private savings by taxing savings up front instead of in retirement? Roth 401(k) contributions …

procrastinate. We develop a theory of optimal defaults based on these considerations. We find that it is sometimes optimal to set … extreme defaults, which are far away from the mean optimal savings rate. A default that is far away from a consumer's optimal … savings rate may make that consumer better off since such a bad' default will lead procrastinating consumers to more quickly …

Bernanke (2005) hypothesized that a "global savings glut" was causing large trade imbalances. However, we show that the … global savings rates did not show a robust upward trend during the relevant period. Moreover, if there had been a global … savings glut there should have been a large investment boom in the countries that imported capital. Instead, those countries …

normative preferences without equating revealed and normative preferences. We illustrate these issues with evidence from savings …

Existing research has documented the large impact that automatic enrollment has on savings plan participation. All the …

-cost intervention that substantially simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity … to enroll in a retirement savings plan at a pre-selected contribution rate and asset allocation, allowing them to … increase contribution rates among employees who are already participating in a savings plan …

We assess the impact of 401(k) plan design on four different 401(k) savings outcomes: participation in the 401(k) plan … have an important effect on all of these savings outcomes. This suggests an important role for both employers in …

on savings. Low-saving employees received simplified plan enrollment or contribution increase forms. A randomized subset …>decreased</i> the savings of non-participants who were ineligible for 401(k) automatic enrollment, and higher observed peer savings … rates also decreased savings. Discouragement from upward social comparisons seems to drive this reaction …