A. Beath, Sébastien Betermier, Maaike P. A. van Bragt, Quentin Spehner, Yuedan Liu
This paper investigates the investment strategy that large Canadian pension funds implement in the private real estate market. Even though they manage just 6% of global pension assets in our data, Canadian pension funds are responsible for 60% of the total value of direct real estate deals involving a pension fund. Their portfolio strategy combines global asset diversification with a local impact strategy that consists of internally developing and greening urban properties. Using a common benchmarking methodology across funds, we show that this strategy delivers superior performance net of fees and drives the green development of major city centers.
{"title":"Green Urban Development: The Impact Investment Strategy of Canadian Pension Funds","authors":"A. Beath, Sébastien Betermier, Maaike P. A. van Bragt, Quentin Spehner, Yuedan Liu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3853175","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3853175","url":null,"abstract":"This paper investigates the investment strategy that large Canadian pension funds implement in the private real estate market. Even though they manage just 6% of global pension assets in our data, Canadian pension funds are responsible for 60% of the total value of direct real estate deals involving a pension fund. Their portfolio strategy combines global asset diversification with a local impact strategy that consists of internally developing and greening urban properties. Using a common benchmarking methodology across funds, we show that this strategy delivers superior performance net of fees and drives the green development of major city centers.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132448402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Defaults are effective because they harness an employee’s inertia to increase savings. The CARES Act gave workers access to retirement savings without penalty to meet COVID-19 related liquidity needs. Accessing these savings requires an active response among passive investors. We hypothesize that employees who delegate investment through target-date funds and managed accounts will be less aware of their ability to use retirement savings as a rainy-day fund. Using a large database of 401(k) plan participants, we estimate the probability that a worker will contact a recordkeeper about initiating a distribution from their retirement account following passage of the Act. Self-directed workers in occupations with high subsequent unemployment were more likely to call about withdrawing funds from their account than workers in delegated investment accounts. Workers defaulted into target-date funds and those who chose to delegate investments through a managed account were both less likely to contact the recordkeeper about making a post-CARES Act distribution.
{"title":"Do Defaults Limit Consumer Response to Rainy-Day Funds? Evidence from 401(k) Participants During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"David Blanchett, Michael S. Finke, Zhikun Liu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3732202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3732202","url":null,"abstract":"Defaults are effective because they harness an employee’s inertia to increase savings. The CARES Act gave workers access to retirement savings without penalty to meet COVID-19 related liquidity needs. Accessing these savings requires an active response among passive investors. We hypothesize that employees who delegate investment through target-date funds and managed accounts will be less aware of their ability to use retirement savings as a rainy-day fund. Using a large database of 401(k) plan participants, we estimate the probability that a worker will contact a recordkeeper about initiating a distribution from their retirement account following passage of the Act. Self-directed workers in occupations with high subsequent unemployment were more likely to call about withdrawing funds from their account than workers in delegated investment accounts. Workers defaulted into target-date funds and those who chose to delegate investments through a managed account were both less likely to contact the recordkeeper about making a post-CARES Act distribution.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123099473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Does New York City's teacher pension plan provide sufficient retirement benefits to its members? How has it changed over time? In order to answer these questions, this paper begins by outlining a framework for determining whether a given plan’s retirement benefits are “adequate” or not, and then examines whether New York City’s TRS plans meet that test. Based on this comparison, it finds that the current Tier VI plan does not provide fully adequate retirement benefits even to the longest-serving veterans. Some portion of teachers will reach at least a minimal adequacy threshold, but the typical teacher would need to serve 23 years before doing so.
{"title":"Do New York City Teachers Have 'Adequate' Retirement Benefits?","authors":"C. Aldeman","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3549391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3549391","url":null,"abstract":"Does New York City's teacher pension plan provide sufficient retirement benefits to its members? How has it changed over time? In order to answer these questions, this paper begins by outlining a framework for determining whether a given plan’s retirement benefits are “adequate” or not, and then examines whether New York City’s TRS plans meet that test. Based on this comparison, it finds that the current Tier VI plan does not provide fully adequate retirement benefits even to the longest-serving veterans. Some portion of teachers will reach at least a minimal adequacy threshold, but the typical teacher would need to serve 23 years before doing so.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130621000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pieter Verhallen, E. Brüggen, Thomas Post, G. Odekerken-Schröder
Descriptive information of peers’ behavior is used to nudge individuals to behave according to a norm. Yet, since such descriptive information is often a quantitative metric, it is possible that the behavioral change is due to anchoring. We disentangle peer and anchoring effects, and test boundary conditions in two experimental studies with a retirement saving contribution rate scenario. In study 1, we find a strong similarity between a peer and anchoring effect. In follow-up study 2, no anchoring effect is found when more extreme values (peer norms or anchors more distant from the control group behavior) are used, whereas the peer effect remains present. Furthermore, we find evidence that the informational component – as opposed to the normative component – of peer information plays a stronger role for peer effects.
{"title":"Norms in Behavioral Interventions: Peer or Anchoring Effects?","authors":"Pieter Verhallen, E. Brüggen, Thomas Post, G. Odekerken-Schröder","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3098028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3098028","url":null,"abstract":"Descriptive information of peers’ behavior is used to nudge individuals to behave according to a norm. Yet, since such descriptive information is often a quantitative metric, it is possible that the behavioral change is due to anchoring. We disentangle peer and anchoring effects, and test boundary conditions in two experimental studies with a retirement saving contribution rate scenario. In study 1, we find a strong similarity between a peer and anchoring effect. In follow-up study 2, no anchoring effect is found when more extreme values (peer norms or anchors more distant from the control group behavior) are used, whereas the peer effect remains present. Furthermore, we find evidence that the informational component – as opposed to the normative component – of peer information plays a stronger role for peer effects.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"123 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123031074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For most workers, 401(k)/IRA assets represent the main source of retirement savings outside of Social Security. These accounts can generate significant wealth if workers contribute consistently from a young age, keep their money in their accounts, and minimize their investment fees. However, most workers have 401(k)/IRA balances at retirement that are substantially below their potential. For example, a 25-year-old median earner in 1981 who contributed regularly would have accumulated about $364,000 by age 60, but the typical 60-year-old with a 401(k) in 2016 had less than $100,000. This brief, which is based on a recent paper, explores the reasons for this gap between potential and actual balances. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section identifies four factors – immaturity of the 401(k) system, lack of universal coverage, leakages, and fees – that might explain why 401(k)/IRA balances fall below their potential. The second section describes the data and the methodology used to estimate the role of each factor. The third section discusses the results, which show that the immaturity of the system and the lack of universal coverage are the main culprits, followed by leakages, and finally fees. The final section concludes that, without a significant effort to cover the uncovered, a large gap between potential and actual accumulations will persist even after the system matures.
{"title":"Why Are 401(k)/IRA Balances Substantially Below Potential?","authors":"Andrew G. Biggs, A. Munnell, Anqi Chen","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3482000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3482000","url":null,"abstract":"For most workers, 401(k)/IRA assets represent the main source of retirement savings outside of Social Security. These accounts can generate significant wealth if workers contribute consistently from a young age, keep their money in their accounts, and minimize their investment fees. However, most workers have 401(k)/IRA balances at retirement that are substantially below their potential. For example, a 25-year-old median earner in 1981 who contributed regularly would have accumulated about $364,000 by age 60, but the typical 60-year-old with a 401(k) in 2016 had less than $100,000. This brief, which is based on a recent paper, explores the reasons for this gap between potential and actual balances. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section identifies four factors – immaturity of the 401(k) system, lack of universal coverage, leakages, and fees – that might explain why 401(k)/IRA balances fall below their potential. The second section describes the data and the methodology used to estimate the role of each factor. The third section discusses the results, which show that the immaturity of the system and the lack of universal coverage are the main culprits, followed by leakages, and finally fees. The final section concludes that, without a significant effort to cover the uncovered, a large gap between potential and actual accumulations will persist even after the system matures.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122604299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Save More Tomorrow (SMarT) program of Thaler and Benartzi (2004) has been pointed to as an example of how insights from behavioral finance can be utilized to help households become better prepared for retirement. In this paper we model a representative household that discounts the future hyperbolically and participates in the SMarT program. We provide a "proof of concept" that increased savings contributions from participation in the SMarT program can be offset by other changes to the household balance sheet (i.e., by reductions in other savings assets and/or by increases in debt liabilities), except in the case where the household faces a borrowing constraint that binds. We conclude that it is necessary to assess how the entire household balance sheet is impacted by SMarT program participation in order to properly evaluate the effectiveness of the program at helping households to become better prepared for retirement, given the empirical fact that most households have unused borrowing capacity in an advanced economy like the United States.
{"title":"The Save More Tomorrow Program and the Household Balance Sheet: A Theoretical Investigation","authors":"T. Findley, Erin Cottle Hunt","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3315808","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3315808","url":null,"abstract":"The Save More Tomorrow (SMarT) program of Thaler and Benartzi (2004) has been pointed to as an example of how insights from behavioral finance can be utilized to help households become better prepared for retirement. In this paper we model a representative household that discounts the future hyperbolically and participates in the SMarT program. We provide a \"proof of concept\" that increased savings contributions from participation in the SMarT program can be offset by other changes to the household balance sheet (i.e., by reductions in other savings assets and/or by increases in debt liabilities), except in the case where the household faces a borrowing constraint that binds. We conclude that it is necessary to assess how the entire household balance sheet is impacted by SMarT program participation in order to properly evaluate the effectiveness of the program at helping households to become better prepared for retirement, given the empirical fact that most households have unused borrowing capacity in an advanced economy like the United States.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127996469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Measuring retirement security — or retirement income adequacy — is an extremely important topic. In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on the retirement income adequacy of widows and single women. EBRI’s Retirement Security Projection Model® (RSPM) can assess the size of households’ retirement deficit by modeling Retirement Savings Shortfalls (RSS). In this Issue Brief, an RSPM® module classifies households by the following gender and marital statuses: single female, widow, single male, and widower. Key findings are: The retirement deficit — or additional savings required to meet basic needs in retirement — is higher for both widows and single females: - The average RSS is $18,476 per individual for married households where the female dies first (widowers). - The average RSS is $22,783 for married households where the male dies first (widows). - The average RSS is $37,690 for single males. - The average RSS is $72,883 for single females. - When households for which no shortfall is projected are excluded from the analysis, the average size of the shortfall is $76,896 for widows vs. $82,937 for widowers. Single females in the lowest pre-retirement wage quartile have an average RSS of $110,412 vs. those in the highest quartile with an average RSS of only $28,951. For single males, the gender discrepancy in average RSS goes from $29,736 for those in the lowest wage quartile to $12,465 for those in the highest quartile. Not only are single females more likely to have retirement deficits, their retirement deficits are likely to be significantly larger than those of other cohorts. - Single females are the only cohort with at least 50 percent of households having a deficit. - The median RSS for this group is $19,900. - 10 percent of single females have an RSS of at least $222,592. Nearly half (48 percent) of single females at the lowest income quartile have at least a $100,000 RSS (connoting serious potential financial complications in retirement). - This compares to a third (33 percent) of single males and 42 percent of widows. - Even in the highest income quartile 13 percent of single females have an RSS of at least $100,000, vs. 7 percent for single males, 4 percent for widows, and 3 percent for widowers. Lack of eligibility for participation in a defined contribution (DC) plan significantly increases savings shortfalls. - Single females with no future eligibility in a DC plan have an average RSS of $97,325 vs. the $24,486 average RSS of those with at least 21–30 years of future eligibility. o - DC plan eligibility. - The discrepancy in average RSS between widows and widowers with no future DC plan eligibility is $6,529. In contrast, future eligibility in DC plans can dramatically reduce serious potential financial complications in retirement. - 42 percent of female households with no future DC plan eligibility have an RSS of at least $100,000 compared with 11 percent of those with
{"title":"How Retirement Readiness Varies by Gender and Family Status: A Retirement Savings Shortfall Assessment of Gen Xers","authors":"Jack L. VanDerhei","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3318534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3318534","url":null,"abstract":"Measuring retirement security — or retirement income adequacy — is an extremely important topic. In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on the retirement income adequacy of widows and single women. EBRI’s Retirement Security Projection Model® (RSPM) can assess the size of households’ retirement deficit by modeling Retirement Savings Shortfalls (RSS). In this Issue Brief, an RSPM® module classifies households by the following gender and marital statuses: single female, widow, single male, and widower. Key findings are: \u0000 \u0000The retirement deficit — or additional savings required to meet basic needs in retirement — is higher for both widows and single females: \u0000 \u0000- The average RSS is $18,476 per individual for married households where the female dies first (widowers). \u0000 \u0000- The average RSS is $22,783 for married households where the male dies first (widows). \u0000 \u0000- The average RSS is $37,690 for single males. \u0000 \u0000- The average RSS is $72,883 for single females. \u0000 \u0000- When households for which no shortfall is projected are excluded from the analysis, the average size of the shortfall is $76,896 for widows vs. $82,937 for widowers. Single females in the lowest pre-retirement wage quartile have an average RSS of $110,412 vs. those in the highest quartile with an average RSS of only $28,951. For single males, the gender discrepancy in average RSS goes from $29,736 for those in the lowest wage quartile to $12,465 for those in the highest quartile. \u0000 \u0000Not only are single females more likely to have retirement deficits, their retirement deficits are likely to be significantly larger than those of other cohorts. \u0000 \u0000- Single females are the only cohort with at least 50 percent of households having a deficit. \u0000 \u0000- The median RSS for this group is $19,900. \u0000 \u0000- 10 percent of single females have an RSS of at least $222,592. \u0000 \u0000Nearly half (48 percent) of single females at the lowest income quartile have at least a $100,000 RSS (connoting serious potential financial complications in retirement). \u0000 \u0000- This compares to a third (33 percent) of single males and 42 percent of widows. \u0000 \u0000- Even in the highest income quartile 13 percent of single females have an RSS of at least $100,000, vs. 7 percent for single males, 4 percent for widows, and 3 percent for widowers. \u0000 \u0000Lack of eligibility for participation in a defined contribution (DC) plan significantly increases savings shortfalls. \u0000 \u0000- Single females with no future eligibility in a DC plan have an average RSS of $97,325 vs. the $24,486 average RSS of those with at least 21–30 years of future eligibility. o - DC plan eligibility. \u0000 \u0000- The discrepancy in average RSS between widows and widowers with no future DC plan eligibility is $6,529. \u0000 \u0000In contrast, future eligibility in DC plans can dramatically reduce serious potential financial complications in retirement. \u0000 \u0000- 42 percent of female households with no future DC plan eligibility have an RSS of at least $100,000 compared with 11 percent of those with","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114071031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Australia has a three-pillar based retirement system consisting of the Superannuation Guarantee Levy (SGL), Private Savings and the Age Pension. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact on the retirement standard of living of Australian households by considering all of the components of the retirement system as well as allowing for the volatility of the economic variables that affect the pre-retirement and post-retirement phases. The analysis is based on the household unit and therefore covers Australians as a whole, and not only those in employment and receiving SGL contributions. The results indicate that the integrated retirement system can be expected on the assumptions made to provide an acceptable standard of living in retirement until quite advanced ages. The results also show that the overall system is not well integrated, and even when the SGL system is mature, the typical Australian household will still access at least a partial Age Pension, and most likely the full Age Pension in retirement.
{"title":"An Analysis of Household Retirement Adequacy In Australia","authors":"John R. Evans, A. Razeed","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3302331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3302331","url":null,"abstract":"Australia has a three-pillar based retirement system consisting of the Superannuation Guarantee Levy (SGL), Private Savings and the Age Pension. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact on the retirement standard of living of Australian households by considering all of the components of the retirement system as well as allowing for the volatility of the economic variables that affect the pre-retirement and post-retirement phases. The analysis is based on the household unit and therefore covers Australians as a whole, and not only those in employment and receiving SGL contributions. The results indicate that the integrated retirement system can be expected on the assumptions made to provide an acceptable standard of living in retirement until quite advanced ages. The results also show that the overall system is not well integrated, and even when the SGL system is mature, the typical Australian household will still access at least a partial Age Pension, and most likely the full Age Pension in retirement.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124510264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We examine how the change in the trend of the elderly’s employment rates has been associated with changes in incentives of social security and its related programs in Japan since the 1980s. We compute the tax force to retire early, using the institutional parameters and synthetic earnings profiles, and juxtapose the tax force measures and the elderly employment rates during 1980 and 2016. Our results suggest that a reduction in the tax force to retire early due to a series of social security reforms has been associated with the recent recovery of the employment rates for men aged 60 years and over as well as the increasing upward trend in the employment rates for women aged 55-64 years.
{"title":"Social Security Programs and the Elderly Employment in Japan","authors":"","doi":"10.3386/W25243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W25243","url":null,"abstract":"We examine how the change in the trend of the elderly’s employment rates has been associated with changes in incentives of social security and its related programs in Japan since the 1980s. We compute the tax force to retire early, using the institutional parameters and synthetic earnings profiles, and juxtapose the tax force measures and the elderly employment rates during 1980 and 2016. Our results suggest that a reduction in the tax force to retire early due to a series of social security reforms has been associated with the recent recovery of the employment rates for men aged 60 years and over as well as the increasing upward trend in the employment rates for women aged 55-64 years.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"160 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127193011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Most Americans enter retirement as married couples, and one spouse, typically the wife, outlives the other. Many widows lack the income needed to maintain the standard of living they had when their husbands were alive. Widows would generally have more adequate incomes if their husbands, who are typically the higher earner in the couple, delayed claiming Social Security. This project uses the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to test the extent to which husbands consider their wives’ well-being as widows when making claiming decisions. It then uses an online experiment to determine whether raising a husband’s awareness of the risks that his widow faces, and how delayed claiming can reduce those risks, affect his claiming behavior.
{"title":"Would Greater Awareness of Social Security Survivor Benefits Affect Claiming Decisions?","authors":"Anek Belbase, Laura D. Quinby","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3276217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3276217","url":null,"abstract":"Most Americans enter retirement as married couples, and one spouse, typically the wife, outlives the other. Many widows lack the income needed to maintain the standard of living they had when their husbands were alive. Widows would generally have more adequate incomes if their husbands, who are typically the higher earner in the couple, delayed claiming Social Security. This project uses the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to test the extent to which husbands consider their wives’ well-being as widows when making claiming decisions. It then uses an online experiment to determine whether raising a husband’s awareness of the risks that his widow faces, and how delayed claiming can reduce those risks, affect his claiming behavior.","PeriodicalId":127004,"journal":{"name":"SIRN: Retirement Income (Topic)","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129734377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}