Purpose: Our study investigates the role of managers in the re-employment of early retirees and asks what the effect is of managers' age norms and stereotypes on managers' employment decisions.Design/methodology/approach: A combination of a factorial study and a survey was conducted. First,...

This study examines the sensitivity of the retirement age decision to standard retirement ages in pension overviews (age anchors) with a self‐constructed survey. Individuals retire later when they are confronted with a higher age anchor. Specifically, their retirement age corresponds to the...

We exploit the US Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) from 1998 to 2007 to provide new insights on the evolution of US households' willingness to undertake portfolio risk. Specifically, we consider four alternative measures of portfolio risk, based on two definitions of portfolio – a narrow one,...

Recent literature typically finds a U shaped relationship between life satisfaction and age. Age profiles, however, are not identified without forcing arbitrary restrictions on the cohort and/or time profiles. In this paper we report what can be identified about the relationship between life...

In this paper we investigate to what extent the decrease in the willingness to take risks with age can be traced to the cognitive ageing process. We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) that includes both a measure of financial risk preference and measures...

This paper examines the impact of participants' age distribution on the asset allocation of Dutch pension funds, using a unique data set of pension fund investment plans for 2007. Theory predicts a negative effect of age on (strategic) equity exposures. We observe that pension funds do indeed...

Using data from three waves of the General Social Survey on retirement and older workers (1994, 2002 and 2007), we document the evolution of retirement patterns over the last three decades. We combined the analysis of retirement ages of actual retirees with data on expected retirement ages of...

This paper investigates how risk attitudes change over the life course. We study the age trajectory of risk attitudes all the way from early adulthood until old age, in large representative panel data sets from the Netherlands and Germany. Age patterns are generally difficult to identify...

Maximizing is a decision strategy that seeks the very best option, which is more elaborate and potentially more regret-inducing than choosing an option that is ‘good enough.’ In surveys with a large national sample, we find that older adults are less likely than younger adults to self-report...

This paper examines policies for the decumulation of pension wealth in the Netherlands. It suggests a design framework based on economic theory and international evidence. The central message is that a well-designed pension system has an important – although certainly not exclusive – role...