Are individuals effectively insured against idiosyncratic shocks to income or wealth by either formal or informal … mechanisms? This paper shows that under perfect insurance, marginal utility should grow at the same rate for all consumers, and … that the distribution of measured consumption growth rates should be independent of variables that are exogenous to the …

. Hispanics also experienced a setback in mean retirement income but continued progress in replacement rates and reducing poverty …Retirement income security refers to the ability of households to provide an adequate stream of income during the … period of their retirement from the labor force. Expected retirement income is based of four components: (i) standard non …

The objective of the work reported in this paper is to find if the consumption data from the six waves of the … Retirement History Survey are consistent with the life cycle hypothesis of consumption and to test the importance of a bequest … motive for saving. The 12 data items which are used cover an estimated 36% of total consumption; the most important datum is …

The wealthy hand-to-mouth are households who hold little or no liquid wealth (cash, checking, and savings accounts … hand-to-mouth suggests that these households may have a high marginal propensity to consume out of transitory income …

financial shocks over time, decreasing the value of consumption smoothing from insurance. We derive formulas for the value of …We analyze the value of insurance when individuals have access to credit markets. Loans allow consumers to smooth … insurance that can be taken to data, and show how that value depends on individual characteristics and features of loans. We …

process using two data sets: the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a large, synthetic, data set that matches the dynamics of … the U.S. tax earnings. Third, it uses a life cycle model of consumption to compare the consumption and saving implications … estimated, richer earnings process generates an increase in consumption inequality over the life cycle that is consistent with …

religious organization are able to insure their consumption stream against income shocks and find strong insurance effects for … services are able to insure their stream of happiness against income shocks and find strong happiness insurance effects for …This paper examines whether involvement with religious organizations insures an individual's stream of consumption and …

paying off debt and saving respectively. People with low liquid wealth and people receiving their EIPs on debit cards spent …