Dr. Thomas Post

Deutsch   Nederlands

Thomas Post


Contact Information

Maastricht University
School of Business and Economics
Department of Finance  

Tongersestraat 53
6211 LM Maastricht
The Netherlands

Email:T.Post@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Phone: +31 43 38 83859

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I am Associate Professor of Finance at Maastricht University and Open University, and affiliated with Netspar. My research focuses on behavioral household finance. I am interested in (1) understanding households' financial decisions (e.g., saving, asset allocation, trading, and annuitization decisions) and (2) designing nudges and interventions to change households' financial decisions (e.g., pension communication, product design).

Recent Research Findings

  • How should messages look like that engage pension plan participants? Do not scare them away them but instead... research paper
  • How old one feels to be, that is, subjective age identity shapes our economic behaviors... research paper

  • (Almost) nobody is interested in dealing with pension savings. Find out more which communication nudges can help… research paper 

  • U.S. homeowners misunderstand reverse mortgages and shy away from using them… research paper

Positions Held

  • since 2019 Open University, Associate Professor of Finance
  • since 2009 Maastricht University, Assistant Professor of Finance; Netspar, Research Fellow
  • June 2013 University of British Columbia, Visitor
  • July 2011 University of New South Wales, Visiting Fellow
  • 2006 – 2009 Dr. Wolfgang Schieren Chair for Insurance and Risk Management, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Post-Doc (Habilitand); C.A.S.E. - Center for Applied Statistics and Economics; Collaborative Research Center 649
  • August 2006 – December 2006 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance
  • 2003 – 2006 Dr. Wolfgang Schieren Chair for Insurance and Risk Management, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, PhD student
  • 2002 - 2003 KPMG (Insurance Audit)

Education

  • Habilitation, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2009
  • Dr. rer. pol., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2006, Title of dissertation thesis: Optimale Altersvorsorgestrategien: Eine Lebenszyklusanalyse (Optimal Financial Planning Strategies: A Life-Cycle Analysis), abstract
  • Diplom-Kaufmann, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2001

Key Publications

Working Papers

  • Eliciting Individuals’ Financial Decision-Making Approaches with Verbal Protocols (with Wändi Bruine de Bruin)
  • An intervention that reduces preoccupation with losses improves stock trading decisions in younger and more inexperienced investors (with Joyce Mertens and Wändi Bruine de Bruin)
  • Norms in Behavioral Interventions: Peer or Anchoring Effects? (with Pieter F. E. Verhallen, Lisa Brüggen, and Gaby Odekerken-Schröder)
  • Friends with Benefits: Strengthening Peer Effects through Aligning Consumer Traits with Reference Group Attributes (with Pieter F. E. Verhallen, Lisa Brüggen, and Gaby Odekerken-Schröder)
  • The U-Turn Effect in Social Norm Interventions: Individual-to-peer Behavior Gap as Endogenous Driver of Social Identification with Peers, and its Consequence on Peer Effects (with Pieter F. E. Verhallen)

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