This paper presents new evidence on the potential importance of 401(K) assets in contributing to the retirement resources of future retirees. We use data on past 401(k) participation rates by age and imcome decile, along with information on average 401(k) contribution rates, to project the...

Retirement saving accounts, particularly employer-provided 401(k) plans rapidly in the last decade. More than forty percent of workers are currently eligible for these" plans, and over seventy percent of eligibles participate in these plans. The substantial and" ongoing accumulation of assets in...

Increasing current Individual Retirement Account (IRA) limits would lead to substantial increases in tax-deferred saving according to evidence in the paper, based on the 1983 Survey of Consumer Finances. For example, the recentTreasury Plan would increase IRA Contributions by about 30 percent....

Tax-deferred savings are potentially an important component of savings for retirement and could represent a very substantial increase in tax-free savings for many employees. IRAs may also have a substantial effect on national savings. Total IRA contributionsin 1982 were over 29 billion dollars....

How households draw down their balances in personal retirement accounts (PRAs) such as 401(k) plans and IRAs can have an important effect on retirement income security and on federal income tax revenues. This paper examines the withdrawal behavior of retirement-age households in the SIPP and...

We consider the evolution of assets after retirement. We ask whether total assets--including housing equity, personal retirement accounts, and other financial assets--tend to be husbanded for a rainy day and drawn down primarily at the time of precipitating shocks, or whether they are drawn down...

Saving through private pensions has been an important complement to Social Security in providing for the financial needs of older Americans. In the past twenty five years, however, there has been a dramatic change in private retirement saving. Personal retirement accounts have replaced defined...

Retirement saving has changed dramatically over the last two decades. There has been a shift from employer-managed defined benefit pensions to defined contribution retirement saving plans that are largely controlled by employees. In 1980, 92 percent of private retirement saving contributions...

Personal retirement accounts are becoming an increasingly important form of retirement saving. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the paper considers the effect of this change on the assets of recent retirees and persons who are approaching retirement. Much of the...

Over the past several years, we have undertaken a series of analysies of the effect of IRA and 401(k) contributions on net personal saving. Saver hetero- geneity is the key impediment to determining the saving effect of these plans We emphasize that no single method can provide sure control for...