$100 Bills on the Sidewalk: Suboptimal Investment in 401(k) Plans

A-Tier
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Year: 2011
Volume: 93
Issue: 3
Pages: 748-763

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We identify employees at seven companies whose 401(k) investment choices are dominated because they are contributing less than the employer matching contribution threshold despite being vested in their match and being able to make penalty-free 401(k) withdrawals for any reason because they are older than 59½. At the average firm, 36% of match-eligible employees over age 59½ forgo arbitrage profits that average 1.6% of their annual pay, or $507. A survey educating employees about the free lunch they are forgoing raised contribution rates by a statistically insignificant 0.67% of income among those completing the survey. © 2011 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:tpr:restat:v:93:y:2011:i:3:p:748-763
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25