Aaron Goodman

I am a researcher at Vanguard, studying topics related to household finance, retirement, and investor behavior. I received my PhD in Economics from MIT in 2022.

Research

Impatience or Illiquidity? The Case of Early 401(k) Withdrawals

Retention or Regressivity? The Empirical Effects of 401(k) Vesting Schedules

(with Guillermo Carranza)

Vanguard research note

Media: Wall Street Journal

Simple Allocation Rules and Optimal Portfolio Choice Over the Lifecycle

(with Victor Duarte, Julia Fonseca, and Jonathan Parker)

Media: Wall Street Journal, Morningstar

Overvaluing 0-1 Bets

(with Indira Puri)

R&R, Journal of Financial Economics

Interstate Competition in Higher Education and the Allocation of Financial Aid

Email: aaron.goodman.15@gmail.com

Policy writing and short papers

Improving Retirement Outcomes by Default: The Case for an IRA QDIA

(with Andy Reed, Fiona Greig, Ariana Abousaeedi, and Sachin Padmawar)

Media: Wall Street Journal (x2), CBS News, USA Today, MarketWatch, Money, Barron's

Does 401(k) Loan Repayment Crowd Out Retirement Saving? Implications for Plan Design

(with John Beshears, James Choi, Joel Dickson, Fiona Greig, and David Laibson)

Media: PlanSponsor, InvestmentNews

Liquidity without Leakage: How to Design Emergency Expense Withdrawals from Retirement Plans (with Fiona Greig and Kelly Hahn)