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» Research Archive
RSP Research Paper Series: Why Don't People Choose Annuities? A Framing Explanation
This paper explores the idea that aversion to annuities is not a fully rational phenomenon and suggests that a psychologically richer model of consumer behavior can explain under-annuitization. click to download (94k)
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NBER Working Paper Series: Saving Incentives for Low- and Middle-Income Families: Evidence from a Field Experiment with H & R Block
The study provides insight into the most effective ways of targeting federal savings incentives for middle- and lower-income workers. Traditional methods, such as tax deferral on contributions to IRAs and 401(k)s, have had minimal impact because their value is low or non-existent for middle- and lower-income workers. Simple matching contributions, on the other hand, provide incentives regardless of a worker's tax rate and thus offer a more promising means of encouraging retirement savings.click to download (508k)
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Lifetime Earnings, Social Security Benefits, and the
Adequacy of Retirement Wealth Accumulation
This paper addresses the adequacy of household retirement saving, controlling for lifetime earnings levels and uncertainty, and examines the role of social security in bolstering financial security. We show that reductions in social security benefits could have significant deleterious effects on the adequacy of saving, especially among low-income households. We also show that, controlling for lifetime earnings, households with high current earnings tend to save far more adequately than other households. click to download (113k)
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Tables for Lifetime Earnings, Social Security Benefits, and the
Adequacy of Retirement Wealth Accumulation
This paper addresses the adequacy of household retirement saving, controlling for lifetime earnings levels and uncertainty, and examines the role of social security in bolstering financial security. We show that reductions in Social Security benefits could have significant deleterious effects on the adequacy of saving, especially among low-income households. We also show that, controlling for lifetime earnings, households with high current earnings tend to save far more adequately than other households. click to download (15k)
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Effects of Stock Market Fluctuations on the Adequacy of Retirement Wealth Accumulation
This paper examines the relation between fluctuations in the aggregate value of equities and the adequacy of households' saving for retirement. Using more recent data than most studies on this topic, we find that many and perhaps most households appear to be saving adequate amounts for retirement, and that there is almost no link between aggregate equity values and the adequacy of retirement saving. A simulated 40 percent decline in stocks has little effect on the adequacy of saving. The substantial growth in equity values and ownership in the 1980s and 1990s did not lead to a surge in the adequacy of retirement saving provisions. The results occur because equity holdings are concentrated among households with significant amounts of other wealth.click to download (182k)
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The Effects of 401(k) Plans on Household Wealth: Differences Across Earnings Groups
This paper provides a new econometric specification and new evidence on the impact of 401(k) plans on household wealth. We allow the impact of 401(k)s to vary over both time and earnings groups. Our specification--motivated by a variety of theoretical considerations and data patterns--generalizes earlier work in the literature, and we show that the modeling constraints imposed by previous authors are rejected by the data.click to download (165k)
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