When compared to wage earners, the take up rate of qualified retirement plans by the self-employed seems to be much lower. This paper explores the various factors that influence the observed participation and contributions to such plans. The findings show that participation declines with...

Policymaker and media attention has recently focused on the rise of the so-called “gig” or freelance employment sector, where workers lack formal long-term relationships with one specific firm. This topic has captured public interest partly because of concern that those engaged in...

The authors examine how public and private pension and health insurance systems affect retirement transitions. In many countries, public and private pension eligibility, as well as access to health insurance varies between self-employed and wage and salary workers, and these differences are...

Self-employed tradespeople, like many business owners, face income uncertainty risk. In Australia, self-employed people are excluded from compulsory superannuation. We quantify financial decisions self-employed tradespeople make in retirement preparation, relative to employed tradespeople. We...

We used administrative micro panel data from the Netherlands to study the wealth effect on the transitions of workers from wage-employment to self-employment. To isolate the causal effect of wealth, we used a pension system reform in 2006 as a quasi-natural experiment. With the onset of the...

When it comes to financial preparation for retirement, self-employed workers in many European countries face unique challenges not encountered by traditional wage earners. This is particularly true for self-employed workers who do not supervise subordinate personnel. This is the case because...

Tax-deferred retirement (TDR) plans, including Simplified Employee Pensions, Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLEs), and solo 401(k) plans, are examples of the tax advantaged plans the federal government has developed to encourage retirement savings among the self-employed. The...