@techreport{NBERw12659,
 title = "Simplification and Saving",
 author = "John Beshears and James J. Choi and David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "12659",
 year = "2006",
 month = "October",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w12659",
 abstract = {The daunting complexity of important financial decisions can lead to procrastination. We evaluate a low-cost intervention that substantially simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement savings plan at a pre-selected contribution rate and asset allocation, allowing them to collapse a multidimensional problem into a binary choice between the status quo and the pre-selected alternative. The intervention increases plan enrollment rates by 10 to 20 percentage points. We find that a similar intervention can be used to increase contribution rates among employees who are already participating in a savings plan.},
}