March 12 - 13, 2026 | New York, NY
For three decades, the TIAA Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security has recognized research that advances Americans' financial well-being. Established in 1996 to honor Nobel Laureate and former CREF Trustee Paul A. Samuelson, the award's 30th anniversary was celebrated with a special reception and dinner the evening before the symposium. To mark the occasion, the TIAA Institute published Transforming American Financial SecurityOpens in a new window, a commemorative compendium highlighting three decades of groundbreaking award-winning research.
The Behavioral Finance Fellows Symposium, co-hosted with the Pension Research Council/Boettner Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, explored two interconnected themes: how health shapes financial outcomes in retirement, and how behavioral insights can help Americans make better financial decisions throughout their lives. An opening keynote by Columbia University's John R. Beard on intrinsic capacity and healthy aging set the stage for six research presentations spanning spousal caregiving, annuitization strategies, consumption patterns, procrastination, Social Security claiming, and the effects of annuities on longevity.
Featured Research:
The protective effects of a healthy spouse: Medicare as the family member of last resort
Itzik Fadlon, University of California, San Diego and NBER; Tal Gross, Boston University and NBER; Alex Hoagland, University of Toronto; Tim Layton, University of Virginia and NBER
Optimizing retirement financial strategies: Integrating annuities, defined contribution plans, and long-term care costs
Raimond Maurer, Goethe University; Vanya Horneff, Goethe University; Olivia S. Mitchell, University of Pennsylvania; Julius Odenbreit, Goethe University
Fit to consume: How health shapes preferences for consumption
Adam Leive, University of California, Berkeley and Jessica Ya Sun, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
The impact of procrastination on estate planning, retirement, and health
Anita Mukherjee, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Rohan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The impact of spousal Social Security claiming decisions on the financial shock of widowhood
Sita N. Slavov, George Mason University and NBER
Exploring the impact of annuities on longevity and retirement well-being (coming soon)
Felipe Severino, Dartmouth College
