We analyse the investment performance of a large sample of individuals investing in discretionary retirement savings products offered by a large Australian financial institution. This is of interest from the perspective of market efficiency and the ability of individuals to over or under-perform...

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...

Using administrative panel data from Norway, we investigate the development of household labor income, financial wealth and asset holdings over a nine-year period surrounding job loss. Consistent with a simple theoretical model, the data show precautionary saving and a shift toward safer assets...

In view of the growth and popularity of defined contribution pensions, along with the government's growing attention to retirement plan costs and investment choices provided, it is important to understand how people select their retirement plan investments. This paper shows how employees in a...

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...

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...

The growth and popularity of defined contribution pensions, along with the government's increasing attention to retirement plan costs and investment choices provided, make it important to understand how people select their retirement plan investments. This paper shows how employees in a large...

Over the life-cycle, wealth holdings tend to be highest in the early part of retirement. The quality of financial decisions among older adults is therefore an important determinant of their financial security during the asset drawdown phase. This paper assesses how financial literacy shapes...

We use data from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to explore how household asset portfolios in the United States evolved between 1989 and 2016. Throughout this period, two key assets - housing and financial market assets - drove the household balance sheet evolution;...

I show that an expansion of student loan supply affects parents' saving decisions and portfolio allocation. By exploiting policy-induced variation on expected student aid, I find a 2.2 pp increase in the parental saving rate, from 4.9% to 6.1%. The mechanism that drives this result is the...