Asset Allocation and Location over the Life Cycle with Survival-Contingent Payouts

Authors

• Raimond H. Maurer
• Olivia S. Mitchell

Abstract

This paper shows how lifelong survival-contingent payouts can enhance investor well-being in the context of a portfolio choice model which integrates uninsurable labor income and asymmetric mortality expectations. Our model generates optimal asset location patterns indicating how much to hold in liquid versus illiquid survivalcontingent payouts over the lifetime, and also asset allocation paths, showing how to invest in stocks versus bonds. We conrm that the investor will gradually move money out of her liquid saving into survival-contingent assets to retirement and beyond, thereby enhancing her welfare by as much as 50 percent. The results are also robust to the introduction of uninsurable consumption shocks in housing expenses, income ows during the worklife and retirement, sudden changes in health status, and medical expenses.

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Project

• UM08-24: The Impact of Social Security Benefits on Household Life Cycle Asset Allocation and Asset Location

Paper ID

WP 2008-177

Publication Type

Working Paper

Publication Year

2008