Are Cognitive Constraints a Barrier to Annuitization?

The brief’s key findings are: *Even though retirees are increasingly responsible for deciding how to draw down their assets, few buy annuities. *Researchers have offered a host of explanations for the limited take-up, but the puzzle has never been solved. *This analysis finds that valuing annuities is hard for people, so they may only buy one if offered a very good deal. *To test this finding, alternative explanations were explored and the results were negative, strengthening the conclusion that people find annuities hard to value. *These results suggest that many individuals, on their own, may have difficulty making well-informed choices about managing their money in retirement.