Determinants of early-access to retirement savings: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Australian regulations strictly limit early withdrawals from retirement plan accounts. However, in 2020, the Government made otherwise illiquid plan balances temporarily liquid, offering emergency relief during the pandemic. The COVID-19 Early Release Scheme allowed participants in financial hardship easy access to up to $A20,000 of savings over two rounds. We use administrative and survey data from a large retirement plan to describe how and why participants withdrew savings under the scheme. A majority report that they needed the money immediately but around one quarter said they anticipated future needs. Most thought about the decision for less than a week, acted soon after each round opened, and withdrew as much as they could. Many people did not estimate, or appear to have mis-estimat

SUBMITTER: Bateman H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9834122 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature