Households face earnings risk which is non-normal and varies by age and over the income distribution. We show that allowing for these rich features of earnings dynamics, in the context of a structurally estimated life-cycle portfolio choice model, helps to rationalize the limited participation...

This paper examines how two instruments—annuities with lifelong benefits purchased using defined contribution (DC) plan assets, and social security annuities—should be considered jointly to optimize household lifetime wellbeing. Understanding how these interact is of key importance in order...

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 employ a life-cycle model with income risk to analyze how tax-deferred individual accounts affect households' savings for retirement. We consider voluntary accounts as opposed to mandatory accounts with minimum contribution rates. We contrast add-on accounts with carve-out accounts that...

Financial provision for old age is a serious issue. This paper therefore begins by outlining the pension situation in Germany, arriving at the conclusion that, as matters stand at present, none of the three "pillars" of pension provision - state and occupational pensions and private pension...

We consider the portfolio selection problem in the accumulation phase of a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme. We solve the mean-variance portfolio selection problem using the embedding technique pioneered by Zhou and Li (2000) and show that it is equivalent to a target-based optimization...

We analyze the rationale for the pay-as-you-go (paygo) pension system existence on diversi fication grounds. A continuous-time portfolio choice setting is built, basing on Merton (1971)´s analysis, where a reasonable balance between the taking account of the economic and fi nancial facets of...

We test a parametric retirement spending strategy incorporating constant spending, variable spending, smoothing, and mortality updating, which reduces to common strategies with suitably chosen parameters. We examine the relationship between spending and shortfall risk over a large universe of...

The present paper analyzes optimal supervisory rules for pension funds taking account of diverse pension security mechanisms: support provided by either a pension guarantee fund, a plan sponsor or by both. Assuming that the regulatory rule is either to control the shortfall probability or...