Credit Access and Retirement Savings
I study how access to credit shapes retirement-saving behavior using administrative defined-contribution plan records linked to consumer credit reports. Exploiting bankruptcy-flag removal in a stacked difference-in-differences design, I find that after removal, annual employee contributions increase by $162, or approximately 10% of their pre-removal mean, while reliance on plan loans declines. The contribution response is larger among participants with limited initial credit access and higher incomes, consistent with binding borrowing constraints and the reallocation of liquid savings toward retirement accounts. Greater credit access also shifts retirement portfolios from bonds toward equities, particularly among participants who actively choose their investments. I further corroborate these findings using the timing of entry into credit markets as an instrument for credit access, yielding consistent results. Together, these findings suggest that credit access can affect long-term retirement security.
Selected presentations: American Finance Association Annual Meeting, Ph.D. Student Poster Session (2027, scheduled); 22nd Annual Olin Finance Conference, Ph.D. Poster Session (2026, scheduled); Texas Finance Job Candidate Conference (2026).