This paper compares the well-being of the Retirement History Survey of the elderly with their own previous levels of income and economic welfare. Traditional replacement rates are calculated, although a number of shortcomings of such measures are discussed. Modifications are made by examining career average rather than peak earnings, by adjusting for the fact that the incomes of the elderly are taxed more lightly, that the elderly do not have dependent children, and that Social Security income in retirement is a safer source ofincome than earnings earlier in life. The fully adjusted total income measures are at least as high for almost all classes of households in the survey as their career average pre-retirement earnings.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
1360.
Length: Date of creation: Jul 1987 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1360
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Kotlikoff, Laurence J & Spivak, Avia & Summers, Lawrence H, 1982.
"The Adequacy of Savings,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 72(5), pages 1056-69, December.
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Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Lawrence H. Summers, 1981.
"The Adequacy of Savings,"
NBER Working Papers
0627, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Michael D. Hurd & John B. Shoven, 1983.
"The Economic Status of the Elderly,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, pages 359-398
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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