Medical and long-term care costs represent a substan­tial uninsured risk for most retired households. A recent brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College reported new findings on average lifetime health care costs at selected ages and on the distribution of those costs....

Estimates of the expected present value of lifetime out-of-pocket medical costs from age 65 onward are of limited value to households managing wealth decumulation in retirement. Their risk characteristics may differ from the average. They will also care about the whole probability distribution...

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we calculate the relationship between socio-economic status and a utility based measure of annuity value. We find considerable variation between groups once we take account of not only socio-economic differences in mortality, but also...

Between 1995 and 2007, inflation-adjusted house prices more than doubled in some areas of the United States. During this unprecedented boom, households spent more and reduced their saving rate. A key question is how much of the increased spending was related to rising house prices, as opposed to...

Between 1995 and 2007, inflation-adjusted house prices more than doubled in some areas of the U.S. During this unprecedented boom, households spent more and reduced their saving rate. A key question is how much of the increased spending was related to rising house prices, as opposed to other...

With the virtual disappearance of traditional pensions, declining Social Security replacement rates, and longer life spans, the retirement landscape is shifting dramatically. Today, responsibility for a comfortable retirement rests mostly on the individual. This change has led to widespread...

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we analyze trends in voluntary, pressured, and forced quits and risk factors associated with each type of quit. We show that leaving one's age-50 job between ages 50 and 56 in any of the above circumstances more than doubles the likelihood...

Using data from several sources, we show that households nearing retirement have lower rates of housing distress than younger households, as measured by arrears and foreclosure rates. However, almost all of the housing wealth gains observed for cohorts aged 51-56 between 1992 and 2004 were...

Using consumption and wealth data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this paper explores the impact of children leaving home on household consumption. We find that households maintain their household-level consumption, despite the fact that the number of individuals in the household has...

This paper investigates the impact of a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) on the age of retirement of employees covered by defined benefit pension plans provided by the City of Philadelphia. We show that the program results in significant and substantial increases in the age of retirement:...