Framing retirement options

Researchers presented participants with four options for using their retirement funds: one which was an annuity and three which were alternative methods of withdrawing the funds. The options were shown using one of three frames: the consumption frame (which focused on the participants’ spending money), consumption with annuity (where the annuity option was called an annuity), and the investment frame (which focused on the total amount of money). The participants preferred the annuity when shown the options through the consumption frame, but they preferred alternatives when shown them through the investment frame. Furthermore, fewer people chose the annuity when the annuity was labeled as such (since annuity holds negative connotations).