We show that the decision to participate in the stock market depends on the ability of equities to hedge the individual permanent earnings shocks, consistent with implications of life-cycle models. Those households who refrain from stock investing display positive correlation between their own...

Households in many countries reach retirement with lump sums of financial wealth accumulated in defined contribution (DC) retirement plans. Retired households need to manage risks and generate income from their savings. We study the dynamics of retirement wealth and portfolio allocation using...

We solve for optimal consumption and portfolio choice in a life-cycle model with short-sales and borrowing constraints, undiversifiable labor income risk and a predictable, time-varying, equity premium and show that the investor pursues aggressive market timing strategies. Importantly, in the...