Simple interventions like changing the default or sending a short message can induce
individuals to save more for retirement. However, messages that emphasize high savings
rates may increase the amount that savings plan participants save while reducing the
total number of plan participants. We study this possibility in the context of a field
experiment designed to increase retirement savings by U.S. military service-members.
We find that service-members who received a message emphasizing a low contribution
rate were more likely to participate in a savings plan than were service-members whose
message emphasized a high contribution rate, or no rate at all.