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Saving After Retirement

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Abstract
Retired households, especially those with high lifetime income, decumulate their wealth very slowly, and many die leaving large estates. The three leading explanations for the ‘retirement savings puzzle†are the desire to insure against uncertain lifespans and medical expenses, the desire to leave bequests to one’s heirs, and the desire to remain in one’s own home. We discuss the empirical strategies used to differentiate these motivations, most of which go beyond wealth to exploit additional features of the data. The literature suggests that all the motivations are present, but has yet to reach a consensus about their relative importance.

Suggested Citation

  • Rory McGee & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2022. "Saving After Retirement," University of Western Ontario, Departmental Research Report Series 202213, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwo:uwowop:202213
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    File URL: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1855&context=economicsresrpt
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement; Savings; Wealth.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G5 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance

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