This paper uses data that combine retirement distributions reported by taxpayers on tax returns with information reported by the payers of those distributions on information returns. With the combined data we can allocate distributions reported on Form 1040 by the detailed distribution codes...

This paper describes how we combine and reconcile data on retirement distributions reported by taxpayers on tax returns with data reported by the payers of those distributions on information returns. With the combined data, we are able to allocate distributions reported on Form 1040 by the...

Despite only having been in existence for 27 years - less than a typical working career - some analysts seem to have concluded that 401(k) plans are a failure. For example, Munnell and Sundn (2004, 2006) argue that the 401(k) is quot;coming up shortquot; due to, among other factors, low...

To maintain their standard of living in retirement, it is often assumed that individuals need to save enough to replace 75 percent to 80 percent of their final pay. This paper develops a replacement rate measure that better corresponds to a replacement of consumption by properly accounting for...

Using panel data from the Internal Revenue Service's Statistics of Income (SOI) Division, we find that most individuals do not experience a reduction in inflation-adjusted spendable income after claiming Social Security. We also examine the composition of income after claiming and find that both...

Rising home prices and generally falling interest rates in recent years, together with a desire to convert the accumulated equity in their homes into spendable funds, have prompted many homeowners to refinance their mortgages. In the spring of 1999, the Federal Reserve surveyed consumers to...

This paper compares measures of 2010 annual income from the Current Population Survey (CPS) with those derived from IRS Statistics of Income Division (SOI) administrative tax data and finds that the CPS vastly understates the income of the elderly. We focus on four types of income found to be...