MetaTOC stay on top of your field, easily

Framing And Claiming: How Information‐Framing Affects Expected Social Security Claiming Behavior

, ,

Journal of Risk & Insurance

Published online on

Abstract

This article provides evidence that Social Security benefit claiming decisions are strongly affected by framing and are thus inconsistent with expected utility theory. Using a randomized experiment that controls for both observable and unobservable differences across individuals, we find that the use of a “breakeven analysis” encourages early claiming. Respondents are more likely to delay when later claiming is framed as a gain, and the claiming age is anchored at older ages. Additionally, the financially less literate, individuals with credit card debt, and those with lower earnings are more influenced by framing than others.