Personalized Information as a Tool to Improve Pension Savings: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Chile

Abstract

Forecasting of the outcome of saving for retirement is challenging, particularly for individuals who have limited financial literacy. We explore how reducing that barrier by offering personalized information affects long-term savings. To this end, we randomly offered personalized information or general information within the context of individual retirement accounts in Chile. Personalized information increased voluntary pension savings. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the updating of priors by information recipients played an important role. However, despite the significant short-term response to the intervention, its temporary nature and limited magnitude are not enough to meaningfully alter the annuity payment that would be obtained from the savings stock.