Target Date Funds and Portfolio Choice in 401(k) Plans

This research is part of the NBER programs on Aging and Labor Studies and the Household Finance Working Group, and it was undertaken pursuant to a grant from the US Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Michigan Retirement Research Center (MRRC). This research support is gratefully acknowledged along with that of the Pension Research Council and Boettner Center at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Vanguard. The authors would like to thank Gary Koenig, Alberto Rossi and Jean Young for helpful comments, and Yong Yu for exceptional research assistance. They acknowledge Vanguard’s efforts in the provision of anonymized recordkeeping data under restricted access conditions. All findings, interpretations, and conclusions represent the views of the authors and not those of the Wharton School or the Pension Research Council, the SSA, any agency of the Federal Government, Vanguard, the MRRC, or any other institution with which the authors are affiliated. ©2020 Mitchell and Utkus. All rights reserved. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.