Does Knowledge Of Pension Reforms Affect Retirement Decisions?

If you knew your pension fund was in great shape, would it alter when you chose to retire? Conversely, if you knew your fund was in dire straits, would it increase the probably of working part-time during retirement?

Two Norwegian researchers set out to answer those questions. As published in the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance:

We present the results of a survey experiment where the treatment group was provided with an information brochure regarding recently implemented changes in the Norwegian pension system, whereas a control group was not. We find that those who received the information are more likely to respond correctly to questions regarding the new pension system. The information effect is larger for those with high education, but only for the most complex aspect of the reform. Despite greater knowledge of the reform in the treatment group, we find no differences between the treatment and control group in their preferences regarding when to retire or whether to combine work and pension uptake.

Read the entire paper here.

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