News Release

CHICAGO - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago senior financial economist Sumit Argawal and three co-authors were recently awarded a certificate of excellence by TIAA-CREF for research on fluctuations in financial aptitude as people grow older.

The paper is titled, “The Economic Age of Reason:  Financial Decisions over the Life Cycle and Implications for Regulation.”   It was published in the Fall 2009 issue of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.  (Paper can be accessed through the Social Science Research Network.

Their research explains fluctuations in financial aptitude during the adult life cycle. Specifically, 53-year-olds are least likely to make mistakes on financial decisions, and this finding was consistent across an array of borrowing options, including those involving credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, home equity loans and small business loans.

Please follow the attached link for more information about the award and the TIAA-CREF institute:

http://www.tiaa-cref.org/public/about/press/about_us/releases/pressrelease370.html

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Background

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the nation’s central bank.  The Chicago Reserve Bank serves the seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the state of Iowa.  In addition to participation in the formulation of monetary policy, each Reserve Bank supervises member banks and bank holding companies, provides financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government, and monitors economic conditions in its District.

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