3. Background
Recent Trends in the U.S. Personal Saving Rate
0.00%
1.50%
3.00%
4.50%
6.00%
7.50%
9.00%
Jan-00 May-01 Sep-02 Jan-04 May-05 Sep-06 Jan-08 May-09 Sep-10
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis via the St. Louis Fed
Personal Saving as a Percentage of Disposable Income
4. • Although the U.S. Personal Saving Rate has surged in the
past few years from alarming lows, it needs to climb even
higher.
• In these tumultuous economic times, saving early and
often is more important than ever:
• Volatile equity, fixed-income and commodity markets.
• Continued decline of private pension schemes.
• Massive deficits in public pension plans and Social Security.
• Personal saving is the only way to hedge these risks and
an uncertain future.
The Current Environment
5. • It’s clear that individuals should save more; studies
have found that many households even feel the
same way.
• In many respects, low personal savings is less the
consequence of economic factors than behavioral
ones.
• The problem, then, is how can we change people’s
savings habits?
• A wide body of research has found behavior to be
notoriously stubborn; maybe we can’t change it.
Raising the Rate – The Problem
6. But maybe we don’t have to
change savings habits…
7. • Instead of trying to influence consumers’ active
savings habits, have banks enroll customers in
checking accounts that will automatically transfer a
percentage of deposits into linked savings accounts.
• Could be pure savings accounts, CDs, govt/agency debt or
other risk-free investments.
• The deposit transfer percentage would increase 1%
quarterly from 2% to 10% (or higher) over two years,
driving a comparable rise in the personal saving rate.
The Solution – Checking Savings
8. • This account type would be the default for new accounts,
but customers would be free to opt-out at any time.
• A rewards program would offer a variety of bonuses for
maintaining balances and reaching savings targets:
• Higher interest rates, frequent flyer miles, iTunes downloads,
etc.
• Penalties would be imposed for early and frequent
withdrawals not for emergency needs or other qualified
expenses.
• Housing, educational, medical, etc.
Other Features
The Checking Savings Program
9. • Economics predicts that individuals will save a portion
of their income while employed to finance a healthy
level of consumption after retirement.
• People realize that they should save more but have
trouble doing so for various behavioral reasons.
The Main Idea
Analytical Framework
10. • Bounded Rationality – No one knows for sure what the
appropriate savings rate is. The different options and
instruments can be overwhelming and confusing.
• Those without economics training may not fully appreciate
the time value of money or the fundamental tradeoff
between present and future consumption.
• Hyperbolic Discounting – People tend to irrationally
discount the future, overconsuming and undersaving in
the present.
• Also explains procrastination – I’ll start saving more…
tomorrow, when I get a raise, etc.
Behavioral Economic
Explanations for Undersaving
11. • Loss Aversion – People tend to weigh losses far more
heavily than equivalent gains. Increased savings can be
perceived as a loss of disposable income and current
consumption, but it’s really just an intertemporal tradeoff.
• Amplified by hyperbolic discounting – The benefits of saving
for a vague and distant future are severely undervalued,
given the cut to spending money that you have to live with
now.
• Status Quo Bias – There is a strong tendency towards
inertia. People infrequently change habits and behaviors,
even when it may be in their best interest to do so.
Behavioral Economic
Explanations for Undersaving
12. • Using predetermined deposit transfer rates and
investments absolves consumers from having to
make the potentially confusing decisions of how and
how much to save.
• Also ensures people will save enough, regardless of
behavioral biases and irrationally present-minded
preferences.
• With enrollment by default and automatic savings
transfers, procrastination becomes irrelevant and
saving becomes the new status quo.
• Discontinuing participation in the plan would require an
active opt-out, which few would pursue.
Why Checking Savings Will Work
Analytical Framework
13. • Having a preset transfer rate that gradually increases over
time from 2% will help ease people into saving by
mitigating the loss aversion.
• Starting at 10% would feel like a huge loss, whereas 2%
would be negligible for many.
• Rewards will incentivize and reinforce savings behavior.
Offering a variety of bonuses would make the program fun
and help expand its appeal across demographics.
• Penalties will serve to force participants to think carefully
about withdrawals, and in doing so encourage fiscal
responsibility.
Why Checking Savings Will Work
14. • Personal Saving Rate. Last Updated 11/1/2010.
• http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/PSAVERT.txt
• This program draws heavily on the ideas and body of research
discussed in Richard Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi’s 2004 Journal of
Political Economy article “Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral
Economics to Increase Employee Saving.”
• Thaler, Richard H. and Benartzi, Shlomo. “Save More Tomorrow: Using
Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving.” Journal of Political
Economy. 2004, vol. 112, no. 1, pt. 2.
Notes and Sources