There is ample empirical evidence documenting widespread financial illiteracy and limited pension knowledge. At the same time, the distribution of wealth is widely dispersed and many workers arrive on the verge of retirement with few or no personal assets. In this paper, we investigate the...

The complexity of financial decisions households are faced with has increased tounprecedented levels. At the same time, recent research documents large differences ineconomic knowledge among households and indicates that household financial skills may beinadequate to cope with the increasing...

We present new evidence on financial literacy and retirement preparation in the Netherlands based on two surveys conducted before and after the onset of the financial crisis. We document that while financial knowledge did not increase from 2005 to 2010, significantly more individuals planned for...

To what extent do house price dynamics differ across market segments? And what determines this heterogeneity? We address these questions by analysing a data set of individual houses and mortgages, based on a survey of about 2,000 Dutch households over the period 2003-2011. We estimate a dynamic...

Survey data show that many respondents save for retirement in unconventional retirement accounts, such as investments in real estate. In countries where retirement savings are not mandatory for self-employed, representatives of this group often report this as an argument against making...

What is the role of micro and macro factors in determining house prices? We address this question empirically by analysing survey data on housing and mortgages from the DNB Household Survey for the period 1993-2009. We focus on the determinants of house owners' subjective assessment of the value...

Evidence suggests only a minority of American households feels "confident" about retirement saving adequacy. Little is known about why people fail to plan for retirement, and whether planning and information costs might affect retirement saving patterns. To better understand these issues, we...

Individuals are increasingly put in charge of their financial security after retirement. Moreover, the supply of complex financial products has increased considerably over the years. However, we still have little or no information about whether individuals have the financial knowledge and skills...