This study empirically analyses the influence of tax concessions on decisions regarding retirement savings in Austria. We analyse real decisions on retirement savings by using qualitative data. This allows us to examine how different, perceived decision-making criteria have led to actual...

Theoretical studies suggest that unexpected changes in future mortality and survival probabilities (stochastic mortality) are important determinants of individuals’ decisions about consumption, saving, asset allocation, and retirement timing. Using data on subjective survival expectations...

Since 2002 the German government seeks to stimulate private retirement savings by means of special allowances and tax exemptions - the so-called Riester scheme. We apply matching and panel regression techniques to assess the impact of the Riester scheme on households' propensities to save in a...

Since 2002 the German government seeks to stimulate private retirement savings by means of special allowances and tax exemptions - the so-called Riester scheme. We apply matching and panel regression techniques to assess the impact of the Riester scheme on households' propensities to save in a...

Approximately 30% of housing defaults are strategic: the homeowner is able to make the payments but rationally chooses not to do so due to negative equity. This document describes the Responsible Homeowner Reward (“RH Reward”), an incentive plan to deter strategic defaults by increasing the...

Due to demographic change the replacement rates of the German statutory pension scheme will decrease over the next decades. Voluntary savings for retirement will therefore gain more and more relevance in order to maintain one’s standard of living during retirement. This article examines the...

The main goal of this article is to describe the attitudes towards bequests as the motive for saving up for old age. The article reports the results of our own qualitative and quantitative research. The reasons for additional, voluntary saving up for old age, as seen in the conducted qualitative...

This paper discusses three alternative assumptions concerning household preferences (altruism, self-interest, and a desire for dynasty building) and shows that these assumptions have very different implications for bequest motives and bequest division. After reviewing some of the literature on...

Traditionally, households have been seen as acting as a single unit when it comes to savings. Although this might be correct for some parts of household savings, we question the correctness of the unitary model with respect to non-mandatory retirement savings. To answer this question we analyze...

Dokumentiert wird der Austausch über das Riester-Sparen, der auf dem Workshop des DIW Berlin stattfand. Teilnehmer dieser Veranstaltung waren Wissenschaftler sowie Vertreter aus Wirtschaft und Politik. Die Gespräche fanden entlang von Vorträgen statt. Kontrovers diskutiert wurde über die...