2008
Beyond the Golden Age of Retirement
The golden age of retirement has past. Our retirement system is woefully under funded to deliver the level of economic welfare that many people expect from it. In this Policy Brief, we show that continuing down our current path in regard to…
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Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement and Returns-to-scale in Consumption
WP 2008-174 , UM07-07
Most assessments of the adequacy of retirement resources are expressed as a comparison of preretirement income to immediate post-retirement income. Yet, among couples a substantial fraction of retirement years is eventually spent by the surviving spouse living alone. To…
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Forecasting Labor Force Participation and Economic Resources of the Early Baby Boomers
WP 2008-175 , UM07-21
This paper forecasts the retirement patterns and resources of the Early Baby Boomers by estimating forward-looking dynamic models of labor force participation, wealth accumulation and pension and Social Security benefit claiming for older workers using seven waves of HRS…
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Deferred Annuities and Strategic Asset Allocation
WP 2008-178 , UM08-24
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…
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The Efficiency of Pension Plan Investment Menus: Investment Choices in Defined Contribution Pension Plans
WP 2008-176 , UM08-20
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 efficiency and performance of 401(k)…
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Are All Americans Saving 'Optimally' for Retirement?
There is a considerable amount of discussion in the popular media and in policyand academic writing that Americans are doing a poor job of preparing for retirement. This perception is reinforced by recent low (and sometimes negative) personal saving rates…
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Deconstructing Lifecycle Expenditure
In this paper we revisit two well-known facts regarding lifecycle expenditures. The first is the familiar “hump” shaped lifecycle profile of nondurable expenditures. The second is that cross-household consumption inequality increases steadily throughout the life cycle. We document that the…
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Marital Histories and Economic Well-Being
Family composition has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. Divorce rates rapidly increased from the late 1960’s through the 1980’s, and, although the majority of divorced individuals eventually remarry, remarriage rates have also declined. This research asks, what are…
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Adequacy of Resources in Retirement
We have found that on average those just past the usual retirement age areadequately prepared for retirement in that they will be able to follow a path ofconsumption that begins at their current level of consumption and then follows an…
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