retirement savings

Risk of Large Medical Expenditures at Older Ages and Their Impact on Economic Well-being

March 1, 2023
Susan Barnes
Financial well-being, Health, Medicaid, Medicare, Retirement, retirement savings

We study out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenditure risk of the U.S. population ages 55 and older using data from the Health and Retirement Study and its supplemental survey on household spending. We document trends in individual-level OOP spending from 1998 to…

Traditional and Nontraditional Earnings: Demographic, Financial, and Beneficiary Patterns

March 1, 2023
Susan Barnes
Financial well-being, Labor Supply, Older workers, retirement savings, Self-employment

We use the 2014 and 2018 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to create a schema of earnings that come from employee and nonemployee sources. Traditional earnings are from a job or incorporated business, while nontraditional earnings…

The Alignment of Household Preferences and Financial Decisions Leading up to Retirement

February 24, 2023
Susan Barnes
retirement savings

Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages

February 24, 2023
Susan Barnes
Administrative data link, Consumption and Activities Mail Survey, Health and Retirement Study, retirement savings

The Alignment of Household Preferences and Financial Decisions Leading up to Retirement

January 31, 2023
Susan Barnes
retirement savings

We report on research that links survey and administrative data to investigate how within-couple differences in preferences and financial decision-making abilities affect household finances. We study whether within-household differences in preferences or financial decision-making abilities influence household choices and, thus,…

Saving Regret in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

October 25, 2022
Susan Barnes
COVID-19, Financial well-being, retirement savings

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, saving regret — defined as the wish to have saved more and spent less earlier in life — was reported by 58% of the older U.S. population. And, the reports were strongly related to the…

Equity Implications of the Rising Full Retirement Age and Social Security Communications: An Analysis of Past and Future Disparities in the Economic Security of Retirees

October 25, 2022
Susan Barnes
benefit claiming, Disparities, Financial well-being, retirement savings

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 raised the Full Retirement Age (FRA), the age at which claimants receive an unreduced monthly benefit, from 65 to 67. However, this change was set to be gradually implemented, with the first increase from…

The Enduring Impacts of COVID-19 on Americans’ Economic and Retirement Security

October 25, 2022
Susan Barnes
Disparities, Financial well-being, retirement savings

This project builds on our previous work by using newly collected data to examine how Americans’ economic and retirement security have changed during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis will examine (1) how the long duration…

Who Benefits from Retirement Saving Incentives in the U.S.? Evidence on Racial Gaps in Retirement Wealth Accumulation

Retirement saving is heavily subsidized in the U.S. Employers and the federal government devote a combined $300 billion annually to encourage contributions to defined contribution (DC) schemes. This institutional design rewards those who can, and do, save more for retirement.…

Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages

August 2, 2022
Susan Barnes
Administrative data link, Consumption and Activities Mail Survey, Health and Retirement Study, retirement savings

We use new data from the 2019 wave of the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey to help interpret the observed decline in spending as individuals age. At one extreme, forward-looking individuals optimally chose the decline; at the other, myopic individuals…