Retirement Savings - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors

dare give up. Scott Cook, the founder-CEO of personal-finance software company Intuit, tried to avoid raising capital from friends and family. But 25 failed pitches to professional investors later, he gave in and borrowed from his parents' View Details

Keywords: by Noam Wasserman

March 2025
Article

Optimal Illiquidity

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Clayton, Christopher Harris, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We study the socially optimal level of illiquidity in an economy populated by households with taste shocks and present bias with naive beliefs. The government chooses mandatory contributions to accounts, each with a different pre-retirement withdrawal penalty.... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Financial Liquidity; Personal Finance; Saving

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01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

As he says, "Linking management fees/rewards to fund performance would be very attractive to investors: Who can argue with shared ambition?" The importance of these questions lies in the heavy reliance that so many people deep into View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Setting the Stage: A Young Scholar at HBS

consider the extent to which the evolution of these financial services have shaped personal opportunities and lifecycle planning—from the attainment of education during youth, to homeownership during middle age, to retirement View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard; Banking; Financial Services

2012
Article

The Excess Burden of Government Indecision

By: Francisco J. Gomes, Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Luis M. Viceira

Governments are known for procrastinating when it comes to resolving painful policy problems. Whatever the political motives for waiting to decide, procrastination distorts economic decisions relative to what would arise with early policy resolution. In so doing, it... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retirement; Policy; Government and Politics

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24 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 24, 2007

compute pairwise coagglomeration measurements for U.S. manufacturing industries. Industry attributes are used to construct measures of the relevance of each of Marshall's three theories of industry agglomeration to each industry pair: (1) agglomeration View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Sep 2011
What Do You Think?

What’s Apple’s Biggest Challenge: Replacing Steve or Wall Street?

because of its bulk, created a barrier between the barista and the customer; and offering new products ranging from new breakfast items to stuffed toys. In 2008, Schultz had to step back in to save the company. This raises the question of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer

03 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

5 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep (With the Help of Behavioral Science Research)

suggest that the mere provision of information on peer health behaviors can have perverse effects on one's health behavior." To learn more, see Converging to the Lowest Common Denominator in Physical Health by Leslie John and Michael Norton. If you have resolved to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

27 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 27

simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement savings plan at a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

The Startling Percentage of Financial Advisors with Misconduct Records

implementation is now under a review initiated by the White House. The regulation requires financial advisors who handle retirement investments to operate in the best interests of their clients. Proponents say the rule is needed so that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

The Watsons: IBM’s Troubled Legacy

pavilions and exhibits clustered around the "Court of Peace" on the fairgrounds. Every major country was represented save Germany. New York's mayor, Fiorello H. La Guardia, had suggested in 1937 that a "Chamber of... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

24 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Assets Only for America’s Wealthy?

Chair of the Finance unit, has spent the past four years investigating ways to help low-income families break out of this cycle and thus gain some of the benefits of being connected to the world of financial services. Programs providing incentives to build View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

Viceira Publication:Chapter 5 in Overcoming the Saving Slump: How to Increase the Effectiveness of Financial Education and Saving Programs, edited by Annamaria Lusardi. University of Chicago Press,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Jan 2005
What Do You Think?

Public Pension Reform: Does Mexico Have the Answer?

in my retirement, or 2) It is money I put in now to pay people who are already retired. I prefer the first view ... ." There was support for forced savings programs. Bill Bittner said, "[Without one] I am afraid a large portion... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Consumers the Cure for Broken Health Insurance?

and returns were determined by employers; workers were given no choice, no control, and very little information. When employees began to manage their retirement savings using 401(k)s and other defined... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Five questions for Regina E. Herzlinger

to their specific needs—e.g., insurance for long-term care and drugs; easy access to integrated teams that specialize in treating chronic diseases and disabilities; pre-tax savings accounts for uninsured health care needs, such as hearing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

The Quest for Better Layoffs

wouldn't face the domino effect that many people face when they don't have savings accounts or other resources that my classmates and I had." Emotional Costs And Worst Practices And so the students teamed up with the professor on a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

24 Jul 2013
Op-Ed

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In

taxpayers and politicians, afflicted with disaster fatigue, will likely have limited appetite for subsidizing struggling cities like Detroit or Rochester or St. Louis. Steven Rattner's recent New York Times op-ed "We Have to Step in and View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber, Robert C. Pozen, Eric D. Werker & Benjamin Kennedy; Auto

09 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

Big Hits: The Best of the 2018 Super Bowl Ads

audience’s attention and empathy, but that failed to offer a compelling reason to believe in and purchase the product. A notable exception was an ad for E-Trade that deftly used many Americans’ post-Great Recession concerns about the safety of their View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Telecommunications

12 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

The Unexpected Link Between Cadavers and Careers

schools require future doctors to study cadavers for the purpose of gaining experience with actual human anatomy. This helps ensure they will know what they're doing when it comes time to treat and save the lives of real patients.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education; Health

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