To boost their domestic saving rate, many OECD countries have introduced savings accounts that offer tax advantages, called tax-preferred saving accounts. This report describes and analyses various tax-preferred savings accounts, excluding pension-related accounts, in a cross-section of 11 OECD countries. Based on a comparison of results, the report then answers the following questions: (1) which income groups benefit the most from these accounts; (2) to what extent do these accounts generate additional savings; and (3) how much tax revenue is foregone due to these accounts. Based on the findings, the report also suggests measures on how to improve the effectiveness of tax-preferred savings accounts. For a complete list of titles that have been published in the Tax Policy Studies series, please see www.oecd.org/ctp/taxpolicystudies.

This report describes and analyses various tax-preferred savings accounts, excluding pension-related accounts, in a cross-section of 11 OECD countries.

This report describes and analyses various tax-preferred savings accounts, excluding pension-related accounts, in a cross-section of 11 OECD countries.

According to the most recent literature, one of the primary systems for getting Americans to save more -- a system of tax-preferred retirement accounts -- is fundamentally broken and should be abandoned. This system of 401(k)s, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and other tax-preferred accounts cost the government about $80 billion per year, and influential new research by Raj Chetty, John Friedman, and co-authors -- among others -- suggests that tax incentives like these are unable to substantially increase private saving. However, this case against tax incentives is overstated. A comprehensive review of the literature suggests that tax incentives, in fact, probably can increase saving among many people -- and particularly among those participating who are financially unsophisticated and have low savings. Further, the findings of Chetty, Friedman, and co-authors have been both over-interpreted and misinterpreted in important ways. Based on this and an analysis of the trade-offs involved in choosing among instruments to encourage greater saving, this article concludes that tax incentives should be used, but they should be appropriately targeted and deployed, unlike in the current system. And they should be used in combination with a mandatory saving floor and nudges to increase saving above that floor. This is an “all-of-the-above” approach -- including the use of tax incentives -- that reflects the apparent variation in how people react to these instruments and that should achieve better outcomes than using any one or two of these instruments alone.

As defined contribution pensions become prevalent, retirees are increasingly responsible for managing their own pension assets and thus their own financial literacy becomes crucial. Based on empirical evidence and new research, the book examines how financial literacy enhances retirement decision-making in ever more complex financial markets.