portfolios, observed in the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) for these countries. We then show that the … heterogeneity in household finances implies that responses of consumption to changes in the real interest rate and in house prices …

How can retirement savings be increased? We explore a unique policy change in the context of the German pension system … these letters on the behavior of individuals. We find an increase in tax-deductible private retirement savings and provide … evidence that this is not due to a crowding-out of other forms of savings. We also show that labor earnings, i.e. the most …

period 2006-2012. Using a large administrative dataset at the household level we estimate how home equity and the outstanding … and endogeneity into account. In our preferred specifications both home equity and the household's amount of mortgage debt …

Whole life insurance plays an important role in household saving. However, empirical evidence on its determinants is …

policy consists in full deferral of income taxes on savings and a full taxation of interest. Mobility of the old calls for … savings in combination with full tax exemption on capital income …

impact of survival on the return of their savings. We also claim that because of its non-monetary form, effort is not … of annuitized savings is desirable for both types. This tax is higher for the low-survival individual. Under asymmetric …

reason is that prices for the two most important long-term savings objectives – housing and healthcare – are rising …-term savings objectives and see purchasing power decline, or they compromise financial security and invest in highly volatile …

-inconsistent preferences. In our model, hyperbolic discounting couples engage in household production activities, thereby accumulating family … standard models of household behavior. Examples include: marriage contracts that serve as barriers to hasty divorces (e …