Framing Effects and Expected Social Security Claiming Behavior

Jeffrey Brown, Arie Kapteyn and Olivia Mitchell

No 17018, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Eligible participants in the U.S. Social Security system may claim benefits anytime from age 62-70, with benefit levels actuarially adjusted based on the claiming age. This paper shows that individual intentions with regard to Social Security claiming ages are sensitive to how the early versus late claiming decision is framed. Using an experimental design, we find that the use of a "break-even analysis" has the very strong effect of encouraging individuals to claim early. We also show that individuals are more likely to report they will delay claiming when later claiming is framed as a gain, and when the information provides an anchoring point at older, rather than younger, ages. Moreover, females, individuals with credit card debt, and workers with lower expected benefits are more strongly influenced by framing. We conclude that some individuals may not make fully rational optimizing choices when it comes to choosing a claiming date.

JEL-codes: D03 D12 D14 H55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-exp and nep-lab
Note: AG PE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Published as Brown, J. R., Kapteyn, A. and Mitchell, O. S. (2013), FRAMING AND CLAIMING: HOW INFORMATION-FRAMING AFFECTS EXPECTED SOCIAL SECURITY CLAIMING BEHAVIOR. Journal of Risk and Insurance. doi: 10.1111/j.1539-6975.2013.12004.x

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Working Paper: Framing Effects and Expected Social Security Claiming Behavior (2011)
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