We examine whether Japanese households have begun to dissave and reduce their holdings of risky assets because of population aging over the period 2000–14. While there is little doubt that household savings have decreased, the true trend without a negative income shock in the early 2000s would...

This paper uses stochastic simulations on calibrated models to assess the steady state impact of different pension arrangements in an environment where financial markets are less than perfect. Surprisingly little is known about the optimal split between funded and unfunded systems when there are...

We pursue a cross-country comparison of relative financial readiness of older households in Japan and the Republic of Korea relative to the United States. Our comparative analysis, using macro-level and harmonized longitudinal household financial data, covers the principal financial channels of...

Explores issues in financing retirement, from fundamental changes in types of pension plans offered to pension funds' investment strategies following the global financial crisis. Focuses in particular on the adequacy of individuals' and institutions' plans in the face of increasing life...

We evaluate how non-normality of asset returns and the temporal evolution of volatility and higher moments affects the conditional allocation of wealth. We show that if one neglects these aspects, as would be the case in a mean-variance allocation, a sighifiant cost would arise. The performance...