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

initial fraction that enroll by 28 percentage points relative to a standard opt-in enrollment procedure, producing a savings … strong propensity to procrastinate and savings preferences that are highly heterogeneous. Naive beliefs about future time …

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 …

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 …

elasticity of intertemporal substitution is less than the inverse of the coefficient of relative risk aversion. Second … Bernheim's (1994) survey data on self-reported undersaving, and predicts pro-savings government interventions like capital …

shifted towards defined contribution (DC) plans as their primary savings plan, and fiscal pressures are likely to generate … retirement in other accounts. There is also substantial heterogeneity across jurisdictions in the savings generated in primary DC … employer match. We conclude by applying lessons from savings behavior in private sector savings plans to the design of public …

on savings. Low-saving employees received simplified plan enrollment or contribution increase forms. A randomized subset … 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 …

planner, who uses tools such as default savings and Social Security to influence the consumption choices of myopic and passive …

401(k) participation rates, savings behavior, and asset accumulation. We find that although employees can opt out of the … 401(k) plan, few choose to do so. As a result, automatic enrollment has a dramatic impact on retirement savings behavior …: 401(k) participation rates at all three firms exceed 85%, but participants tend to anchor at a low default savings rate …

This paper summarizes the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement savings outcomes. After outlining the … defaults impact retirement savings outcomes at all stages of the savings lifecycle, including savings plan participation …, savings rates, asset allocation, and post-retirement savings distributions. The paper then discusses why defaults have such a …