Optimal Default Retirement Saving Policies: Theory and Evidence from OregonSaves

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Wharton Pension Research Council Working Papers
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state-sponsored retirement plans
automatic enrollment
optimal default saving rate
undersaving
inattention
Economics
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Zhong, Mingli
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I theoretically analyze and empirically identify the optimal default savings rate in automatic enrollment retirement saving plans. I derive a formula for the optimal default as a function of sufficient statistics that can be empirically identified. I estimate individual adherence to the default using exogenous increases in the default rate of OregonSaves, the first state-sponsored auto-enrollment plan in the U.S. I also use survey data to infer the degree of undersaving if workers actively switch to a non-default rate. Combining estimates from administrative and survey data with the optimal default formula, I find the optimal default is 7% of income.

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2021-04-16
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Mingli Zhong is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
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