The role of the annuity's value on the decision (not) to annuitize: evidence from a large policy change
This paper presents new evidence on how the annuitization decision is affected by changes in the annuity's value. We take advantage of an unprecendented change in policy, which in 2004 moderated the super-mandatory Swiss occupational pension scheme: The 20 percent reduction in the rate at which retirement capital is translated into a life-long annuity equates to a net present value loss of approximately 20'000 SFR (20'000 USD) for the average retiree. Using administrative data and correcting for anticipation effects, we show that due to the change in policy there was an approximately 8 percentage point change in the share of men choosing to annuitize their savings. We also show that the estimated responsiveness of the cash-out decision to variations in a utility based measure for the annuity value is comparable to results of previous studies, which employed completely different sources of variation in the annuity's value.
Year of publication: |
2008
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Authors: | Bütler, Monika ; Staubli, Stefan ; Zito, Maria Grazia |
Publisher: |
Munich : Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo) |
Subject: | Pensionsfonds | Rentenpolitik | Betriebliche Altersversorgung | Anlageverhalten | Leibrente | Schweiz | Annuity puzzle | occupational pension | policy change |
Saved in:
freely available
Series: | CESifo Working Paper ; 2376 |
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Type of publication: | Book / Working Paper |
Type of publication (narrower categories): | Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Other identifiers: | 577315889 [GVK] hdl:10419/26421 [Handle] |
Classification: | D91 - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving ; H55 - Social Security and Public Pensions ; J26 - Retirement; Retirement Policies |
Source: |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010264420