Effects of an Individual Development Account Program on Retirement Saving: Follow-Up Evidence from a Randomized Experiment
Using data from a randomized experiment that ran from 1998 to 2003 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, we examine the 10-year follow-up effects on retirement saving of an Individual Development Account (IDA) program. The IDA program included financial education, encouragement to save, and matching funds for several qualified uses of the savings, including contributions to retirement accounts.
The results indicate that, as of 2009, 6 years after the program ended, the IDA program had no impact on the propensity to hold a retirement account, the account balance, or the sufficiency of retirement balances to meet retirement expenses.