Life cycle origins of pre-retirement financial status: Insights from birth cohort data

There are wide disparities in the extent to which people are prepared to deal financially with their retirement. Among older adults who are nearing their exit from the labor market, a growing proportion lack the resources to ensure a financially stable retirement. I argue that information from birth cohort data are useful for quantifying the extent to which these disparities are a function of their early life experiences and characteristics. For current cohorts, these data can help us identify those most at risk of financial distress when they reach retirement, and for future cohorts the data point to the importance of investing in the human capital of the next generation to ensure a stable financial trajectory across the life course.