Call for Proposals: Financial Wellness, Behavioral Insurance, and Retirement Planning

The TIAA Institute is partnering with the Wharton School’s Boettner Center/Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvania to fund innovative research related to older Americans financial wellness, behavioral insurance, and retirement planning. We are now accepting research proposals focused on this topic. Final funding decisions will be contingent upon continued fundingRead More

A Financial Literacy Test That Works

Brokers, financial advice providers, and many others need to test peoples’ ability to manage their money. Nevertheless, there are some who debate such tests arguing that they aren’t useful for predicting behavior. But our work has confirmed that there actually IS a short and very effective diagnostic financial literacy test that can be used to measure financial know-how and predict behavior.Read More

Moving To The Next Step: Reboot, Rewire, Or Retire?

Many Boomers currently in their 50s, 60s, and 70s confront crucial decisions about the next steps for their careers and post-career activities. Some seek new conventional job opportunities; others want a new active life that follows a different script; and yet others choose a traditional retirement path.  While younger people often have well-established ideas about career planning, those of us in later life stages are often unclear about next steps.Read More

Do Americans Participate Enough In Retirement Plans?

Recently some analysts have queried: why do so few Americans participate in their pension plans? For this purpose, the pension participation rates, or the fraction of employees who either contribute to a defined contribution (DC) plan or are covered by a defined benefit (DB) plan, is often used as a key performance metric for the U.S. voluntary employer plan system.Read More