2008 | MRDRC

Project

2008

Pension Plan Documents from Government Sources

The purpose of this project is to locate Federal Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) for employers of Health and Retirement Study respondents who were employed at the time of the initial Wave I interview. These EINs are essential for linking our respondents to Form...

Authors: David Weir, Charles Brown,

Project

2008

The Role of Disability Transfer Programs on the Economic Well-Being of Working-Age People with Disabilities

In the 1990s, social expectations of single mothers shifted towards the notion that most should, could, and would work, if given the proper incentives. This shift in expectations culminated in the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity...

Authors: Richard Burkhauser, Mary Daly,

Project

2008

Obstacles to Saving Among Economically Vulnerable Women

How do low-income households think about saving? What motivations do they identify for saving, and what obstacles to meeting their goals? We use data from qualitative interviews with 51 households in Detroit to shed light on these questions. We find that they wish...

Authors: Helen Levy, Kristin S. Seefeldt,

Project

2008

Pension Reform in Mexico: The Effect of Personal Retirement Accounts on Preparation for Retirement

In 1997 Mexico introduced Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs) which, after a transition phase, will completely replace the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system. We give a detailed overview of the relevant institutional framework, the market of PRA providers and how it has...

Authors: Michael Hurd, Susann Rohwedder, Emma Aguila,

Project

2008

The Impact of Fatness on Disability Insurance Application by the Non-Elderly

This paper compares a variety of measures of fatness (e.g. BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, percent body fat) in terms of their ability to predict application for Social Security Disability Insurance (DI). This is possible through a recent linkage of the...

Authors: Richard Burkhauser, John Cawley,

Project

2008

Retirement Wealth Across Cohorts: The Role of Earnings Inequality and Pension Changes

Changes in labor markets over the past 30 years suggest upcoming changes in the distribution of wealth at retirement. Baby boom cohorts have spent the majority of their prime earnings years in a labor market with increased earnings inequality. This paper investigates...

Authors: Ann Huff Stevens,

Project

2008

The Optimal Design of Social Security

The United States Social Security system is fairly unique in that it explicitly allows for a progressive formulation of retirement benefits by assigning a larger replacement rate to workers with small pre-retirement wages. In contrast, the public pension systems in...

Authors: Kent Smetters,

Project

2008

The Efficiency of Pension Plan Investment Menus: Investment Choices in Defined Contribution Pensions

Few previous studies have explored whether defined contribution retirement saving plans offer sufficiently diversified investment menus, though it is likely that these menus significantly shape workers’ accumulations of retirement wealth. This paper assesses the...

Authors: Olivia S. Mitchell,

Project

2008

Are Early Retirees Less Healthy? The Role of Health in Social Security Claiming Decisions

As the Social Security full retirement age rises, the relative generosity of Social Security retirement benefits compared to disability benefits is declining, raising the incentive for insured people to apply for disability benefits. After controlling for other...

Authors: Nicole Maestas, Xiaoyan Li,

Project

2008

How Pension Rules Affect Work and Contribution Patterns: a Behavioral Model of the Chilean Privatized Pension System

Chile has been at the forefront of pension reform, having switched in 1980 from a pay-as-you-go system to a fully funded privatized accounts system. The Chilean system served as a model for reform in many other Latin American countries and has also been considered by...

Authors: Petra Todd, Viviana Vélez-Grajales,

Project

2008

Work and Retirement Choices of Women: The Impact of Social Security Rules in Chile

As women enter the labor force in increasing numbers, it becomes increasingly important to understand their retirement behavior, which may differ from that of men. How do system rules and other forces shape their age of pensioning and withdrawal from the labor force?...

Authors: Estelle James, Alejandra Cox Edwards,

Project

2008

The Impact of Social Security Benefits on Household Life Cycle Asset Allocation and Asset Location

We derive the optimal portfolio choice and consumption pattern over the lifecycle for households facing labor income, capital market, and mortality risk. In addition to stocks and bonds, households also have access to deferred annuities. Deferred annuities offer a...

Authors: Raimond H. Maurer,

Project

2008

Early Social Security Claiming and Cognitive Resources

Traditional economic models assume that individuals have full information and act perfectly rationally. However, we show that there is considerable variation in financial literacy in the population and propose modeling the acquisition of financial knowledge in a human...

Authors: Robert J. Willis, Adeline Delavande,

Project

2008

Individuals’ Uncertainty about Their Future Social Security Benefits

The Social Security trust fund is predicted to be depleted by 2041. While there are several viable reform proposals to restore long-term solvency of the Social Security system, one important element that is critical to the success of any reform remains unknown: how...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder, Adeline Delavande,

Project

2008

Early Retirement, Labor Supply, and Benefit Withholding

The labor supply and benefit claiming incentives provided by the early retirement rules of the Social Security Old Age benefits program are of growing importance as the Normal Retirement Age (NRA) increases to 67, the labor force participation of Older Americans...

Authors: Hugo Benítez-Silva, Frank Heiland,

Project

2008

Marital Histories and Economic Well-Being

Compared to unmarried individuals married individuals report greater average wealth. A restricted focus on current marital status risks misrepresenting the effects of marriage on wealth, as an increasing proportion of older adults have been divorced and remarried,...

Authors: Julie Zissimopoulos, Amy Rauer, Benjamin Karney,

Project

2008

Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement: Model-Based Estimations

The most common metric for assessing the adequacy of economic preparation for retirement is the income replacement rate, the ratio of income after retirement to income before retirement. However both economic theory and common sense say that someone is adequately...

Authors: Michael Hurd, Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2008

Financial Literacy and Financial Behavior Across the Life-Cycle

We examine financial literacy using data resulting from a set of questions included in the most recent wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. These questions were previously asked of older adults in a financial literacy module in the 2004 Health and...

Authors: Annamaria Lusardi,

Project

2008

Labor Supply Effects of the Interaction Between Social Security Disability and Retirement Benefits

The Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program imposes strong work restrictions on beneficiaries; however, the causal effect of the work disincentives on labor supply has been difficult to estimate. We take a new look at this question by exploiting the fact...

Authors: Nicole Maestas,

Project

2008

Labor Market and Immigration Behavior of Middle-Aged and Elderly Mexicans

In this study we analyzed the retirement behavior of Mexicans with migration spells to the United States that returned to Mexico and non-migrants. Our analysis is based on rich panel data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Approximately 9 percent of MHAS...

Authors: Julie Zissimopoulos, Emma Aguila,

Project Year: 2008

Pension Plan Documents from Government Sources

The Role of Disability Transfer Programs on the Economic Well-Being of Working-Age People with Disabilities

Obstacles to Saving Among Economically Vulnerable Women

Pension Reform in Mexico: The Effect of Personal Retirement Accounts on Preparation for Retirement

The Impact of Fatness on Disability Insurance Application by the Non-Elderly

Retirement Wealth Across Cohorts: The Role of Earnings Inequality and Pension Changes

The Optimal Design of Social Security

The Efficiency of Pension Plan Investment Menus: Investment Choices in Defined Contribution Pensions

Are Early Retirees Less Healthy? The Role of Health in Social Security Claiming Decisions

How Pension Rules Affect Work and Contribution Patterns: a Behavioral Model of the Chilean Privatized Pension System

Work and Retirement Choices of Women: The Impact of Social Security Rules in Chile

The Impact of Social Security Benefits on Household Life Cycle Asset Allocation and Asset Location

Early Social Security Claiming and Cognitive Resources

Individuals’ Uncertainty about Their Future Social Security Benefits

Early Retirement, Labor Supply, and Benefit Withholding

Marital Histories and Economic Well-Being

Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement: Model-Based Estimations

Financial Literacy and Financial Behavior Across the Life-Cycle

Labor Supply Effects of the Interaction Between Social Security Disability and Retirement Benefits

Labor Market and Immigration Behavior of Middle-Aged and Elderly Mexicans

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