scholarly journals Pensions, Social Security, Wealth and Lifetime Earnings: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Gale ◽  
John W.R. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Social Security Wealth ◽  
Lifetime Earnings ◽  
Retirement Study

Recent trends in wealth inequality among older Americans in two surveys

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Gabor Kezdi ◽  
Margaret Lay ◽  
David Weir
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Survey Of Consumer Finances ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Consumer Finances ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Social Security Wealth ◽  
Retirement Study

We document changes in wealth inequality across American households with a member aged 55 or older, comparing data in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) with that in the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) between 1998 and 2016. We examine net wealth including housing, financial and nonfinancial assets and debt, without the cash value of insurances, DB pensions or Social Security wealth. We find very similar distributions of net wealth in the two surveys between the 25th and 90th percentiles, but substantially higher wealth in the SCF at the top of the distribution. Both surveys show an increase in wealth inequality between 1998 and 2016, first mostly due to increased wealth at the top, and, after 2012, due to an increase in the share of households with very little wealth as well. Both surveys agree that wealth inequality by education and race, already substantial in 1998, increased further by 2016.

scholarly journals Pension and Social Security Wealth in the Health and Retirement Study

10.3386/w5912 ◽  
1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Gustman ◽  
Olivia Mitchell ◽  
Andrew Samwick ◽  
Thomas Steinmeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Social Security Wealth ◽  
Retirement Study

scholarly journals Life-Cycle Variation in the Association between Current and Lifetime Earnings

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1308-1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Haider ◽  
Gary Solon
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Errors In Variables ◽  
Current Income ◽  
Lifetime Income ◽  
Cycle Variation ◽  
Lifetime Earnings ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Retirement Study

Researchers in a variety of important economic literatures have assumed that current income variables as proxies for lifetime income variables follow the textbook errors-in-variables model. In our analysis of Social Security records containing nearly career-long earnings histories for the Health and Retirement Study sample, we find that the relationship between current and lifetime earnings departs substantially from the textbook model in ways that vary systematically over the life cycle. Our results can enable more appropriate analysis of, and correction for, errors-in-variables bias in any research that uses current earnings to proxy for lifetime earnings.

Replacing Income in Retirement for the Newly Retired: A Distributional Analysis of Gross and Net Replacement Rates

2007 ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Keith A. Bender
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Retirement Income ◽  
Distributional Analysis ◽  
Social Concern ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Retirement Study ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
Net Replacement

Income replacement after retirement is an increasingly important economic policy area of social concern. This study examines three different measures of replacement income, including the effect of taxes on the estimated replacement rates of new retirees in the Health and Retirement Study. An analysis of replacement rates on average and in different parts of the distribution shows that married, older, and voluntary retirees have the highest replacement rates and that income from pensions and Social Security still form the majority of retirement income replacement.

Late Career Job Loss and Retirement Behavior of Couples

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajin Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Job Loss ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Budget Constraints ◽  
Unexpected Earnings ◽  
Retirement Behavior ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Social Security Benefits ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Retirement Study

This article argues that wealth uncertainty influences when couples choose to retire. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I show that wives delay retirement when their husbands retire following a job loss. This effect is stronger when husbands are the primary earners, and couples are relatively poorer. This provides evidence of intra-household insurance that mitigates the impact of an unexpected earnings shock. I find that wives tend to delay retirement only until they become eligible for social security. This suggests that social security benefits can relax households’ budget constraints and allow wives to join their husbands in retirement.

scholarly journals Predicting Receipt of Social Security Administration Disability Benefits Using Biomarkers and Other Physiological Measures: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-579
Author(s):  
Laura Blue ◽  
Lakhpreet Gill ◽  
Jessica Faul ◽  
Kevin Bradway ◽  
David Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Social Security Administration ◽  
Disability Benefits ◽  
Predicted Probability ◽  
Moderate Power ◽  
Physiological Markers ◽  
Retirement Study

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess how well physiological measures, including biomarkers and genetic indicators, predict receipt of Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits among U.S. adults aged 51 to 65 years. Method: We used data from the 2006 to 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), linked to SSA administrative data. Using logistic regression, we predicted benefit receipt (either Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income) using 19 distinct physiological markers, adjusting for age, sex, race, and select medication use. We then calculated the propensity (i.e., predicted probability) that each HRS respondent received benefits and assessed how well propensity score–based classifications could identify beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries. Results: Thirteen percent of respondents received benefits. Using the propensity score cut point that maximized the sum of sensitivity and specificity, the model correctly predicted 75.9% of beneficiaries and 73.5% of nonbeneficiaries. Discussion: Physiological measures have moderate power to predict SSA disability benefit receipt.

Early claiming of higher-earning husbands, the survivor benefit, and the incidence of poverty among recent widows

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEFFREY DIEBOLD ◽  
JEREMY MOULTON ◽  
JOHN SCOTT
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Discrete Time ◽  
Hazard Model ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Poverty Risk ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Retirement Benefit ◽  
Married Men ◽  
Discrete Time Hazard Model ◽  
Retirement Study

AbstractSocial Security provides survivor benefits to lower-earning spouses of deceased workers entitled to a retirement benefit. The value of the survivor benefit depends on a number of factors including the deceased worker's claim age. We use the Health and Retirement Study and a discrete time hazard model to analyze how the claim age of married men influences the likelihood that their spouse will enter poverty in widowhood. We find that delayed claiming is associated with reduction in a widow's poverty risk. The magnitude of this relationship varies significantly with the claim age, Social Security dependence, and survivor benefit dependence.

scholarly journals Retirement plan wealth inequality: measurement and trends

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Teresa Ghilarducci ◽  
Siavash Radpour ◽  
Anthony Webb
Keyword(s):  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Inequality Measurement ◽  
Older Employees ◽  
Retirement Plan ◽  
Lifetime Earnings ◽  
Retirement Wealth ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Using Health and Retirement Study data linked to summary plan descriptions and W-2s, this study reports trends in retirement wealth inequality of older employees 1992–2010. The study identifies and corrects methodological flaws in past research. Retirement wealth is highly unequally distributed; the top lifetime earnings quintile holds half of all retirement wealth, the bottom quintile, only 1%. The top earnings quintile fared better in 2010 than in 1992, whereas bottom-quintile earners fared worse. But retirement wealth inequality mainly reflects inequality within earnings quintiles, resulting from inadequate savings, not outsize accumulations. Systemic flaws reduce median retirement wealth by 84%

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