<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate how individual retirement savings are made tangible for potential customers. As case companies we have studied the marketing strategies of Handelsbanken and Swedbank.</p><p>We use Miller and Foust’s classification of services by intangibility based on attributes and benefits and Tarn’s four strategy marketing-based model in order to find out how the retirement savings are made tangible.</p><p>We find that the attributes and benefits that are used to define retirement savings depend on how the service is affiliated to life-insurance or banking services. Intangibility is coped by simplifying the products by lifting forward salient features. Complexity is overcome by explanation. Putting emphasis on flexibility is a mean to cope with the uncertainty of future income.</p>

The nature of employee retirement plans has changed dramatically over the past fifteen years as employers have been replacing traditional defined benefit retirement plans with defined contribution plans like the 401(k) plan. This dissertation is focused on the impact that 401(k) plan have on household asset accumulation. The first essay looks at how much asset accumulation can be attributed to 401(k) plans as opposed to other factors such as demographics and saver type characteristics. Overall, the conclusions are consistent with recent research that says these plans induce a reshuffling of assets rather than being funded through a reduction in consumption. Controlling for cohort effects reduces the amount of wealth attributable to 401(k) eligibility to a negligible (and statistically insignificant) amount. The second essay considers the impact that borrowing against the assets in 401(k) plan might have on household asset accumulation. Most personal finance advice warns against borrowing against a retirement plan because of the potential negative impact on retirement wealth. This is especially true for borrowers who are also undisciplined savers and do not or cannot maintain their retirement plan contributions during loan period or who separate from their employers before the loan is repaid. For good savers a retirement plan loan only has a modest impact on retirement wealth. Only modest make-up contributions would need to be made to mitigate the impact of a retirement plan loan. It seems that many borrowers may be using retirement loans because they are in financial difficulty. It also appears that borrowers are trying to maintain their retirement savings, but their asset accumulation within broader measures of wealth is below that of households that do not have outstanding 401(k) loans.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how individual retirement savings are made tangible for potential customers. As case companies we have studied the marketing strategies of Handelsbanken and Swedbank. We use Miller and Foust’s classification of services by intangibility based on attributes and benefits and Tarn’s four strategy marketing-based model in order to find out how the retirement savings are made tangible. We find that the attributes and benefits that are used to define retirement savings depend on how the service is affiliated to life-insurance or banking services. Intangibility is coped by simplifying the products by lifting forward salient features. Complexity is overcome by explanation. Putting emphasis on flexibility is a mean to cope with the uncertainty of future income.

Recent studies have indicated that only 6% of South African citizens can maintain their standard of living during retirement. This is of great concern to both the government and individuals. In an attempt to counter this dilemma, the government has implemented several new tax exemptions and deductions to encourage taxpayers to increase their retirement savings. However, uncertainty exists regarding the effectiveness of these exemptions and deductions. For individuals to benefit from same, they will need to be informed on and understand the principles on which they are based. Above all, South African citizens need to grasp the importance of ensuring their financial security during retirement, which will hopefully create a culture of saving for that purpose. South Africans therefore need to increase their level of financial and tax literacy, either by informing themselves in that regard, or by consulting with professionals. This study was conducted from a South African perspective and focused on the probability of financial and tax literacy increasing financial independence during retirement. The data presented in this study was collected by means of two questionnaires, which were emailed to a selection of participants. The purpose of this study was first to determine the financial and tax literacy of South Africans with regard to retirement planning and second, to determine whether financial and tax literacy could increase financial independence during retirement. This study is an empirical study since primary data was collected specifically for this research project. Based on the data obtained by means of the questionnaires, it was concluded that the financial and tax literacy of the majority of South Africans is not sufficient to intentionally benefit from tax-beneficial retirement funds and investments. It was further concluded that although the majority of South Africans are not sufficiently financially literate to be able to optimise their retirement savings, they are willing to improve their level of financial and tax literacy and increase their savings towards retirement once they have been informed and have gained some understanding in this regard. Therefore, financial and tax literacy can potentially increase financial independence during retirement. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Taxation / MCom / Unrestricted

The purpose of the study is to investigate optimal asset allocation as a means of minimising the investment risk, drawdown risk and longevity risk associated with an investment linked living annuity. The three risk elements were tested for various categories of retirees investing the full retirement savings amount in a living annuity. At first the paper examines the South African public's current pre-retirement savings habits, propensity to save and knowledge on the financial industry. The literature concludes that very few people are saving adequately for retirement, thus leaving a gap between required retirement savings capital and accumulated retirement savings capital. As a consequence, retirees have to take on more risk, usually in the form of equity exposure, (only available in an investment linked living annuity) or delaying retirement, to try and breach the gap. Secondly the paper examines the constructs in developing an optimal asset allocation. An analysis of the constructs includes risk versus return relationships for retirees, various unit trust sectors and portfolios within the South African financial market, the investment horizon also stated as the life expectancy of a retiree and withdrawal strategies applied by investors or retirees. The practical data and theory from the literature study formed the basis of the empirical study where different retirement savings balances were tested at various drawdown rates and asset allocations in an investment linked living annuity. The study concluded that retirees have to consider, among other factors, the required standard of living (stated as a net replacement ratio), the need to withdraw one third of the retirement capital and life expectancy before investing in an investment linked living annuity. These factors will have the biggest influence on the risks associated with an investment linked living annuity. Furthermore, the study concluded that an optimal asset allocation would be able to support a retiree during the post-retirement phase. A well diversified portfolio with a minimum of 50% allocation towards equity and property assets seems to be optimal. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

The purpose of the study is to investigate optimal asset allocation as a means of minimising the investment risk, drawdown risk and longevity risk associated with an investment linked living annuity. The three risk elements were tested for various categories of retirees investing the full retirement savings amount in a living annuity. At first the paper examines the South African public's current pre-retirement savings habits, propensity to save and knowledge on the financial industry. The literature concludes that very few people are saving adequately for retirement, thus leaving a gap between required retirement savings capital and accumulated retirement savings capital. As a consequence, retirees have to take on more risk, usually in the form of equity exposure, (only available in an investment linked living annuity) or delaying retirement, to try and breach the gap. Secondly the paper examines the constructs in developing an optimal asset allocation. An analysis of the constructs includes risk versus return relationships for retirees, various unit trust sectors and portfolios within the South African financial market, the investment horizon also stated as the life expectancy of a retiree and withdrawal strategies applied by investors or retirees. The practical data and theory from the literature study formed the basis of the empirical study where different retirement savings balances were tested at various drawdown rates and asset allocations in an investment linked living annuity. The study concluded that retirees have to consider, among other factors, the required standard of living (stated as a net replacement ratio), the need to withdraw one third of the retirement capital and life expectancy before investing in an investment linked living annuity. These factors will have the biggest influence on the risks associated with an investment linked living annuity. Furthermore, the study concluded that an optimal asset allocation would be able to support a retiree during the post-retirement phase. A well diversified portfolio with a minimum of 50% allocation towards equity and property assets seems to be optimal. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

退休規劃對個人或社會一直以來都是重要的議題。但是大部分的人往往受到心理偏誤的影響，逐漸偏離原本的目標。本研究除了檢視現行台灣地區實施的退休金制度外，也探討退休時可能面臨的各種風險及世界銀行建議之最適宜退休金制度，並發現在進行退休規劃時個人準備是不可缺少的。此外，本研究進一步釐清在退休規劃時會受到哪些心理偏誤的影響，以及這些心理偏誤會如何影響退休規劃。當退休規劃納入心理偏誤的影響後，對提供投資計畫的金融機構，應加入哪些機制才能消除因為投資人心理偏誤導致投資績效不佳的後果，期望能成功的協助投資人達成退休規劃的目標。最後，本文也討論了退休規劃建議採用的標的資產及退休商品的行銷策略。 / Retirement Savings has been an important issue for people, but most of them will deviate from their goals due to some psychological biases. In this paper, the present situation of Taiwanese pension system has been reviewed. Through analyzing the appropriate retirement system and considering the risks that people will face during the retirement, the paper points out the importance of self preparation. In addition, this paper conclude certain psychological biases that will influence retirement savings and give the alternatives of retirement savings program design to inform the financial institution in retirement plan promotion. Meanwhile, the propositions of underlying assets and marketing strategies are also provided in the research.

The implementation of deregulation in the financial industry has shown both positive and negative effects on the average investor’s ability to save for retirement. The increase in financial investment products and supplements to saving has provided the average investor with many more opportunities to manage his/her wealth in order to save for retirement. This paper will examine the evolution of basic savings accounts offered by commercial banks in the early 1900s to the broadening of investment opportunities in the 1990s. The paper discusses the effects of three deregulatory acts on the average investor’s ability to accumulate wealth for retirement. These acts include: The Depository Institutions Deregulatory Monetary Control Act of 1980, Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, and the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 through the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. Each of these deregulatory measures played a significant role in the changing of investment and savings behavior of the average investor and the definition of retirement in general.

The U.S. social security system faces funding pressure due to the aging of the population. This dissertation examines the welfare cost of social security reform and social security policy uncertainty under rational expectations and under learning. I provide an overview of the U.S. social security system in Chapter I. In Chapter II, I construct an analytically tractable two-period OLG model with capital, social security, and endogenous government debt. I demonstrate the existence of steady states depends on social security parameters. I demonstrate a saddle-node bifurcation of steady states numerically, and demonstrate a transcritical bifurcation analytically. I show that if a proposed social security reform is large enough, or if the probability of reform is high enough, the economy will converge to a steady state. In Chapter III, I develop a three-period lifecycle model. The model is inherently forward looking, which allows for more interesting policy analysis. With three periods, the young worker's saving-consumption decision depends on her expectation of future capital. This forward looking allows analysis of multi-period uncertainty. Analysis in the three-period model suggests that policy uncertainty may have lasting consequences, even after reform is enacted. In Chapter IV, I develop two theories of bounded rationality called life-cycle horizon learning and finite horizon life-cycle learning. In both models, agents use adaptive expectations to forecast future aggregates, such as wages and interest rates. This adaptive learning feature introduces cyclical dynamics along a transition path, which magnify the welfare cost of changes in policy and policy uncertainty. I model policy uncertainty as a stochastic process in which reform takes place in one of two periods as either a benefit cut or a tax increase. I find the welfare cost of this policy uncertainty is less than 0.25% of period consumption in a standard, rational expectations framework. The welfare cost of policy uncertainty is larger in the learning models; the worst-off cohort in the life-cycle horizon learning model would be willing to give up 1.98% of period consumption to avoid policy uncertainty.

BAKGRUND: Svenskar har generellt ett för lågt privat sparande till sin pension för att kunna upprätthålla en likvärdig konsumtionsnivå som pensionär. Tidigare forskning visar att beteendeekonomiska interventioner är ett kostnadseffektivt sätt att motverka de kognitiva bias som bidrar till att människan inte förmår spara tillräckligt till pensionen. Svenskar är i hög grad medvetna om hållbarhet, att illustrera pensionssparandets potential att främja hållbarhet via en beteendeekonomisk intervention har därför potential att öka intresset för privat pensionssparande. För att effektivisera framtida interventioner av denna typ visar tidigare forskning att finansiell bildning och inramning är relevanta vilket denna studie syftar undersöka vidare för denna kontext. SYFTE: Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om det utbredda intresset för hållbarhet kan utnyttjas via en beteendeekonomisk intervention för att på ett mer effektivt sätt öka intresset för det privata pensionssparandet. Studien avser också att undersöka hur den beteendeekonomiska interventionen samvarierar med finansiell bildning och inramning för att kunna skräddarsy framtida interventioner av denna typ. GENOMFÖRANDE: Frågeställningarna besvaras med ett experiment. Experimentet utgörs av sex enkäter, som i sin tur är uppdelade i tre delar; (i) kontrollfrågor, (ii) boosts, och (iii) inramning. I del ett besvarar respondenterna kontrollfrågor rörande bland annat ålder, kön och finansiell bildning. Del två prövar huruvida hållbarhet skapar ett ökat intresse för det privata pensionssparandet via en beteendeekonomisk intervention. Del tre avser att testa vilken inramning som lämpar sig bäst i denna kontext. SLUTSATS: Studien ger starka indikationer på att en implementering av hållbarhet gör den beteendeekonomiska interventionen mer effektiv i att skapa ett intresse för det privata pensionssparandet. Respondentens finansiella bildning är en signifikant indikator på dess benägenhet att anmäla intresse för att lära sig mer om pensionssparande. I denna kontext skapar en förlustinramning starkast incitament till ytterligare informationsinhämtning. / BACKGROUND: Swedes generally have too low private savings for their pension to be able to maintain an equivalent level of consumption as a pensioner. Previous research shows that behavioral economic interventions are a cost-effective way of counteracting the cognitive biases that contribute to people not being able to save enough for retirement. Swedes are highly aware of sustainability, illustrating the potential of pension savings to promote sustainability through a behavioral economic intervention therefore has the potential to increase interest in private pension savings. To streamline future interventions of this type, previous research shows that financial formation and framing are relevant, which this study aims to investigate further for this context. AIM: This study aims to investigate whether the widespread interest in sustainability can be utilized through a behavioral economic intervention to more effectively increase interest in private pension savings. The study also intends to investigate how the behavioral economic intervention covaries with financial education and framing in order to be able to tailor future interventions of this type. COMPLETION: The research questions are answered with an experiment. The experiment consists of six questionnaires, which in turn are divided into three parts; (i) control questions, (ii)boosts, and (iii) framing. In part one, the respondents answer control questions concerning, among other things, age, gender and financial education. Part two examines whether sustainability creates an increased interest in private pension savings through a behavioral economic intervention. Part three intends to test which framing is best suited in this context. CONCLUSION: The study provides strong indications that an implementation of sustainability makes behavioral economic intervention more effective in creating an interest in private pension savings. The respondent's financial education is a significant indicator of its propensity to register an interest in learning more about pension savings. In this context, a loss framework creates the strongest incentive for further information gathering.