IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joecag/v18y2021ics2212828x20300487.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trust and retirement preparedness: Evidence from Singapore

Author

Listed:
  • Koh, Benedict S.K.
  • Mitchell, Olivia S.
  • Fong, Joelle H.

Abstract

Trust is an essential component of any financial system, and distrust can undermine savings and economic growth. Our study draws on the Singapore Life Panel to assess how trust ties to older respondents’ (1) pension plan participation and withdrawals; (2) life, health, and long-term care insurance holdings; and (3) stock market engagement. We show that the widely-used ‘trust in people’ question is uncorrelated with household behaviours related to retirement preparedness. Instead, trust in private and public financial representatives is positively associated with pension savings, investments, and insurance holdings. Financial literacy also plays an important and consistent role in retirement decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Koh, Benedict S.K. & Mitchell, Olivia S. & Fong, Joelle H., 2021. "Trust and retirement preparedness: Evidence from Singapore," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joecag:v:18:y:2021:i:c:s2212828x20300487
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2020.100283
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212828X20300487
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeoa.2020.100283?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    2. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2008. "Planning and Financial Literacy: How Do Women Fare?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 413-417, May.
    3. La Porta, Rafael, et al, 1997. "Trust in Large Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 333-338, May.
    4. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2007. "Baby Boomer retirement security: The roles of planning, financial literacy, and housing wealth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 205-224, January.
    5. Mayssun El-Attar & Markus Poschke, 2011. "Trust and the Choice Between Housing and Financial Assets: Evidence from Spanish Households," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 15(4), pages 727-756.
    6. Joel Slemrod & Peter Katuák, 2005. "Do Trust and Trustworthiness Pay Off?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    7. Sumit Agarwal & Jessica Pan & Wenlan Qian, 2020. "Age of Decision: Pension Savings Withdrawal and Consumption and Debt Response," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 43-69, January.
    8. Jeffrey V. Butler & Paola Giuliano & Luigi Guiso, 2016. "The Right Amount of Trust," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(5), pages 1155-1180.
    9. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    10. Costa-Gomes, Miguel A. & Huck, Steffen & Weizsäcker, Georg, 2014. "Beliefs and actions in the trust game: Creating instrumental variables to estimate the causal effect," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 298-309.
    11. Ricci, Ornella & Caratelli, Massimo, 2017. "Financial literacy, trust and retirement planning," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 43-64, January.
    12. Raymond Fisman & Maura O’Neill, 2009. "Gender Differences in Beliefs on the Returns to Effort: Evidence from the World Values Survey," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(4).
    13. repec:oup:jeurec:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:429-462. is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2008. "Trusting the Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2557-2600, December.
    15. Joanne W. Hsu, 2016. "Aging and Strategic Learning: The Impact of Spousal Incentives on Financial Literacy," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(4), pages 1036-1067.
    16. Hong, Jay H. & Rios-Rull, Jose-Victor, 2007. "Social security, life insurance and annuities for families," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 118-140, January.
    17. A. M. Jeanette Deetlefs & Hazel Bateman & Loretti I. Dobrescu & Ben R. Newell & Andreas Ortmann & Susan Thorp, 2019. "Engagement with Retirement Savings: It Is a Matter of Trust," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 917-945, September.
    18. Kim, Hugh Hoikwang & Maurer, Raimond & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2016. "Time is money: Rational life cycle inertia and the delegation of investment management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 427-447.
    19. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2011. "Financial literacy around the world: an overview," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 497-508, October.
    20. Beckmann, Elisabeth & Mare, Davide Salvatore, 2017. "Formal and informal household savings: how does trust in financial institutions influence the choice of saving instruments?," MPRA Paper 81141, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Agnew, Julie R. & Szykman, Lisa R. & Utkus, Stephen P. & Young, Jean A., 2012. "Trust, plan knowledge and 401(k) savings behavior," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, January.
    22. Lambregts, Timo R. & Schut, Frederik T., 2020. "Displaced, disliked and misunderstood: A systematic review of the reasons for low uptake of long-term care insurance and life annuities," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    23. Johnson, Noel D. & Mislin, Alexandra, 2012. "How much should we trust the World Values Survey trust question?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 210-212.
    24. Clark, Robert & Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2017. "Financial knowledge and 401(k) investment performance: a case study," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 324-347, July.
    25. Daniel G. Goldstein & Eric J. Johnson & William F. Sharpe, 2008. "Choosing Outcomes versus Choosing Products: Consumer-Focused Retirement Investment Advice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 440-456, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Long She & Ratneswary Rasiah & Marc Arul Weissmann & Harpaljit Kaur, 2024. "Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to Explore Predictors of Financial Behaviour Among Working Adults in Malaysia," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 13(1), pages 118-135, January.
    2. López, Fernando & Rosas, Guillermo, 2022. "COVID-19 and attitudes towards early withdrawal of pension funds: The role of trust and political ideology," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. Ye, Zihan & Zou, Xiaopeng & Post, Thomas & Mo, Weiqiao & Yang, Qianqian, 2022. "Too old to plan? Age identity and financial planning among the older population of China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Hazel Bateman & Inka Eberhardt, 2024. "How Fact Sheets affect retirement income product knowledge, perceptions and choices," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 49(2), pages 119-141, May.
    5. Azra Zaimovic & Anes Torlakovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo & Tarik Zaimovic & Lejla Dedovic & Minela Nuhic Meskovic, 2023. "Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    6. Philip Maximilian Linhart & Olaf Stotz, 2022. "Which factors support trust in the recommendation process of pension products? Trust and pension products," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(4), pages 322-334, December.
    7. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Mak, Billy S.C. & Shu, Hao & Tan, Weiqiang, 2023. "Impact of financial investment on confidence in a happy future retirement," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    2. Koh, Benedict S.K. & Mitchell, Olivia S. & Rohwedder, Susann, 2020. "Financial knowledge and portfolio complexity in Singapore," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    3. Francisco Gomes & Michael Haliassos & Tarun Ramadorai, 2021. "Household Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 919-1000, September.
    4. Ziyuan Lyu & Li Wei, 2021. "Information sources and participation in the Chinese insurance market: knowledge as a mediator," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 46(1), pages 79-106, January.
    5. Angelini, Viola & Bertoni, Marco & Stella, Luca & Weiss, Christoph T., 2019. "The ant or the grasshopper? The long-term consequences of Unilateral Divorce Laws on savings of European households," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 97-113.
    6. Tabea Bucher-Koenen & Annamaria Lusardi & Rob Alessie & Maarten van Rooij, 2017. "How Financially Literate Are Women? An Overview and New Insights," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 255-283, July.
    7. Rahul Mehrotra & Vincent Somville & Lore vandewalle, 2016. "Increasing trust in the bank to enhance savings: Experimental evidence from India," CMI Working Papers 1, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    8. Noemi Oggero & Maria Cristina Rossi & Elisa Ughetto, 2020. "Entrepreneurial spirits in women and men. The role of financial literacy and digital skills," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 313-327, August.
    9. Danling Jiang & Sonya S Lim, 2018. "Trust and Household Debt [Consumer bankruptcy and default: the role of individual social capital]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 783-812.
    10. Philip Maximilian Linhart & Olaf Stotz, 2022. "Which factors support trust in the recommendation process of pension products? Trust and pension products," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(4), pages 322-334, December.
    11. Alessandro Bucciol & Martina Manfre' & Marcella Veronesi, 2018. "The Role of Financial Literacy and Money Education on Wealth Decisions," Working Papers 05/2018, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    12. Marie-Hélène BROIHANNE, 2021. "Testing the gender gap in subjective financial literacy of spouses," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2021-08, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    13. Calcagno, Riccardo & Giofré, Maela & Urzì-Brancati, Maria Cesira, 2017. "To trust is good, but to control is better: How investors discipline financial advisors’ activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 287-316.
    14. Alan, Sule & Kubilay, Elif, 2023. "Impersonal trust in a Just and Unjust world: Evidence from an educational intervention," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    15. Azra Zaimovic & Anes Torlakovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo & Tarik Zaimovic & Lejla Dedovic & Minela Nuhic Meskovic, 2023. "Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    16. Robert L. Clark & Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "Financial Knowledge and 401(k) Investment Performance," NBER Working Papers 20137, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Mitchell, O.S. & Piggott, J., 2016. "Workplace-Linked Pensions for an Aging Demographic," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 865-904, Elsevier.
    18. Gupta, Atul & Raman, Kartik & Shang, Chenguang, 2018. "Social capital and the cost of equity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 102-117.
    19. Asmare, Fissha & Giedraitis, Vincentas & Jaraitė, Jūratė & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2023. "Energy-related financial literacy and retrofits of Soviet-era apartment buildings: The case of Lithuania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    20. Lusardi, Annamaria & Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2020. "Assessing the impact of financial education programs: A quantitative model," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial literacy; Trust; Investment; Saving; Household portfolios; Retirement; Pension; Central provident fund;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joecag:v:18:y:2021:i:c:s2212828x20300487. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-journal-of-the-economics-of-ageing .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.