English couple households born in the 1940s. Here, 'optimal' wealth holdings are those that allow households to enjoy the same … calculate this level of wealth, and compare that with how much wealth households are observed to hold. We find that the majority … of households hold more wealth than our model suggests is optimal and that this would still be true even if housing …

In this paper, we analyze the wealth accumulation and saving behavior of the retired elderly in Italy using micro data … from the "Survey of Italian Households' Income and Wealth," a panel survey of households conducted every two years by the … Bank of Italy. We find that, on average, the retired elderly in Italy are decumulating their wealth (dissaving) but that …