Tax-deferred savings plans such as Individual Retirement Accounts, Keogh plans and 401(k) plans -- popular as they may be -- don't appear to boost Americans' low savings rates, according to a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

• The study concluded that, although one-third of all savings between 1982 and 1994 were dedicated to tax-deferred plans, these savings would probably have occurred anyway.

• The nation's personal savings rate -- personal savings as a percentage of disposable income -- dipped from 9.1 percent in 1981 to 3.8 percent in 1994, according to the Commerce Department.

The NBER study said that previous research -- which suggested that such tax-deferred savings plans do encourage people to save more -- was based on flawed research.

• For example, families which participate in the tax-deferred plans already tend to be the better savers.

• Participants also tend to take on more debt than other households.

Since this targeted approach fails, many economists are recommending more broad-based approaches -- such as lowering taxes for evryone. Also, entitlements programs shift a major tax burden onto baby-boomers and future generations. Reducing and reforming these programs would facilitate tax-cutting, thereby enabling those who are presently paying their exorbitant costs to shift more money into savings.

Source: Perspective, "Incentive to Save?" Investor's Business Daily, November 8, 1996.