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The Drawdown of Personal Retirement Assets

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  • James M. Poterba
  • Steven F. Venti
  • David A. Wise

Abstract

How households draw down their balances in personal retirement accounts (PRAs) such as 401(k) plans and IRAs can have an important effect on retirement income security and on federal income tax revenues. This paper examines the withdrawal behavior of retirement-age households in the SIPP and finds a modest rate of withdrawals prior to the age of 70½, the age at which required minimum distributions (RMDs) must begin. In a typical year, only seven percent of PRA-owning households between the ages of 60 and 69 take an annual distribution of more than ten percent of their PRA balance, and only eighteen percent make any withdrawals at all. For these households, annual withdrawals represent about two percent of account balances. The rate of distributions rises sharply after age 70½, with annual withdrawals of about five percent per year. During the period we study, the average rate of return on account balances exceeded this withdrawal rate, so average PRA balances continued to grow through at least age 85. Our findings suggest that households tend to preserve PRA assets, perhaps to self-insure against large and uncertain late-life expenses, and that RMD rules have important effects on withdrawal patterns.

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  • James M. Poterba & Steven F. Venti & David A. Wise, 2011. "The Drawdown of Personal Retirement Assets," NBER Working Papers 16675, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16675
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. James Poterba & Steven Venti & David Wise, 2011. "The Composition and Drawdown of Wealth in Retirement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 95-118, Fall.
    2. Bonnie-Jeanne Macdonald, 2018. "Headed for the Poorhouse: How to Ensure Seniors Don’t Run Out of Cash before They Run Out of Time," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 500, January.
    3. Gustman, Alan L. & Steinmeier, Thomas L. & Tabatabai, Nahid, 2014. "Mismeasurement of pensions before and after retirement: the mystery of the disappearing pensions with implications for the importance of Social Security as a source of retirement support," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-26, January.
    4. James M. Poterba, 2014. "Retirement Security in an Aging Society," NBER Working Papers 19930, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Rawley Z. Heimer & Kristian Ove R. Myrseth & Raphael S. Schoenle, 2019. "YOLO: Mortality Beliefs and Household Finance Puzzles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(6), pages 2957-2996, December.
    6. Peter J. Brady, 2012. "Can 401(k) Plans Provide Adequate Retirement Resources?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 40(2), pages 177-206, March.
    7. Marekwica, Marcel & Schaefer, Alexander & Sebastian, Steffen, 2013. "Life cycle asset allocation in the presence of housing and tax-deferred investing," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1110-1125.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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