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Retirement Savings Behavior of Higher Education Employees

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Abstract

Higher education employees often participate in university-sponsored defined contribution pension plans that place the investment decision responsibility upon them. In order to examine investment decision-making behavior with retirement savings plans we investigated attitude-mediated, individual difference determinants of risky decision-making behavior in employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans. Using a field survey of 795 higher education employees, who participated in one of four defined contribution savings plans, we tested a risk taking model using data on the employees’ investment allocations in their defined contribution savings plan. We found that an attitudinal preference toward risk and a perception of opportunity served as mediators for the relationships among employees’ dispositional characteristics and their retirement savings behavior. We also found that investment knowledge directly affected risk taking behavior. Implications of the results for higher education institutions are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Labor and Industrial Relations, 412 S. Kedzie Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    James H. Dulebohn

  2. College of Business, University of Dallas, 1845 East Northgate Drive, Irving, TX, 75062, USA

    Brian Murray

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  1. James H. Dulebohn
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  2. Brian Murray
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Correspondence to James H. Dulebohn.

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Funding for this study was provided by TIAA-CREF and is gratefully acknowledged by the authors.

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Dulebohn, J.H., Murray, B. Retirement Savings Behavior of Higher Education Employees. Res High Educ 48, 545–582 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-006-9038-z

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