What comes to mind when considering looking into and/or adjusting one’s pension? An empirical study among UK and US residents

Planning for retirement requires people to regularly examine their pension savings to see whether their plans are feasible (or still so) and whether adjustments need to be made. Little is known about how people perceive these decisions. We present the findings of a sample of US and UK participants, whom we probed for their underlying associations or motivations regarding these decisions. The findings reveal a wide range of associations that confirmed previous insights (e.g., concern for one’s future, anxiety) but also identified variables that are rarely considered in pension planning research (e.g., positive emotions and feelings). A ranking in terms of prominence indicated that the relevance of associations was very similar for both types of decisions (inspecting current pension savings and adjusting the pension plan). An exploratory regression analysis suggests, however, that the actual decisions of looking into one’s pension and adjusting it are differentially related to the underlying categories. The decision to look into one’s pension was most strongly, and positively, related to evaluation of one’s current situation. The decision to adjust one’s pension was negatively related to the category of ensuring safety and security. The main results are discussed, as well as the potential implications for pension researchers and practitioners.