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

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Author Info
Wolfram J. Horneff (Goethe University)
Raimond H. Maurer (Goethe University)
Olivia S. Mitchel (The Wharton School)
Michael Z. Stamos (Goethe University)
Abstract

This paper shows how lifelong survival-contingent payouts can enhance investor wellbeing 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 survival-contingent 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 survivalcontingent 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 flows during the worklife and retirement, sudden changes in health status, and medical expenses.

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Paper provided by University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center in its series Working Papers with number wp177.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: May 2008
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Handle: RePEc:mrr:papers:wp177

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