How Does Aging Affect Financial Decision Making?

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The brief’s key findings are:

  • With the shift from traditional pensions to 401(k) plans, the welfare of retirees depends increasingly on their ability to make sound financial decisions.
  • Using a dataset that follows a group of older individuals in the Chicago area, the analysis examines how aging affects financial decision making.
  • Participants who suffer cognitive decline experience a reduction in their financial literacy but no change in their confidence in managing their money.
  • Perhaps not surprisingly then, while they are more likely to get help with financial decisions, more than half retain primary responsibility for managing their money.