Spouses who don’t ask one question — “your 401(k) or mine?” — could be losing out on retirement money, research finds.
By failing to allocate retirement savings to the spouse with the employer that provides the highest match rate, couples may be leaving money on the table, according to 2025 research published in the American Economic Review.
By switching retirement contributions to the account with the higher match rate, 1 in 5 couples could increase their savings by an estimated $750 per year, note the research authors: Taha Choukhmane, assistant professor of finance at MIT Sloan School of Management; Lucas Goodman, an economist at the Treasury Department; and Cormac O’Dea, assistant professor of economics at Yale University.
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By not focusing on the highest match, couples may sacrifice an average of $14,000 in retirement wealth over their lifetime, which may climb to as high as $40,000 in additional wealth at retirement for 10% of couples, according to the research.
