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Savings after Retirement: A Survey

Author

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  • De Nardi, Mariacristina

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago)

  • French, Eric

    () (University College London)

  • Jones, John Bailey

    (University of Albany)

Abstract

Retired U.S. households, especially those with high income, decumulate their assets more slowly than implied by the basic life cycle model. The observed patterns of out-of-pocket medical expenses, which rise quickly with age and income during retirement, and longevity, which also rises with income, can explain a significant portion of U.S. retirement saving. However, more work is needed to disentangle these precautionary motives from other motives, such as the desire to leave bequests.

Suggested Citation

  • De Nardi, Mariacristina & French, Eric & Jones, John Bailey, 2016. "Savings after Retirement: A Survey," Chicago Fed Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhle:00044
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. French, Eric & Jones, John Bailey & Kelly, Elaine & McCauley, Jeremy, 2018. "End-of-Life Medical Expenses," Working Paper 18-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    2. repec:aea:aejmac:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:71-117 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:eee:jjieco:v:51:y:2019:i:c:p:52-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Gilad Sorek & Bharat Diwakar, 2017. "Weak Scale Effects in Overlapping Generations Economy," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(2), pages 962-969.
    5. Niimi, Yoko & Horioka, Charles Yuji, 2019. "The wealth decumulation behavior of the retired elderly in Japan: The relative importance of precautionary saving and bequest motives," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 52-63.
    6. Keiko MURATA, "undated". "Dissaving by the elderly in Japan: Empirical evidence from survey data," ESRI Discussion paper series 346, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    7. repec:eee:pubeco:v:159:y:2018:i:c:p:128-145 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:6:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0716-1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ye Jin Heo, 2018. "Population aging and housing prices: who are we calling old?," NBP Working Papers 288, Narodowy Bank Polski, Economic Research Department.
    10. James M. Poterba & Steven F. Venti & David A. Wise, 2015. "What Determines End-of-Life Assets? A Retrospective View," NBER Chapters,in: Insights in the Economics of Aging, pages 127-157 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Jones, John Bailey & Li, Yue, 2018. "The effects of collecting income taxes on Social Security benefits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 128-145.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income; bequest; life saving; retirement;

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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