Income as the outcome: How to broaden the narrow framing of U.S. retirement policy

This article provides a brief review of behavioral economics research on annuitization. It applies the lessons learned from this literature to examine how public policy toward defined contribution plans has narrowly framed the conversation about retirement in a manner that may discourage the provision of lifetime income. It then discusses a number of policy changes that could be made to reframe the conversation to focus on retirement income security rather than wealth accumulation.