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Two Essays On Everyday Financial Decisions, Poornima Vinoo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Every day consumers make numerous financial decisions which have the potential to increase or decrease their wellbeing in the short-term or long-term. For instance, choosing to pay only the minimum due on a credit card bill can increase liquidity and wellbeing in the short-term, but increase debt and decrease wellbeing in the long-term. My work examines two such instances of everyday financial decisions which influence consumer wellbeing. In Essay 1, I use experiments to examine how the design of retirement savings investment plans can influence the choices consumers make, thus setting them up for comfort or hardship in their retirement. …