The Composition and Draw-Down of Wealth in Retirement

44 Pages Posted: 29 Oct 2011 Last revised: 2 Jun 2023

See all articles by James M. Poterba

James M. Poterba

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Steven F. Venti

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

David A. Wise

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

This paper presents evidence on the resources available to households as they enter retirement. It draws heavily on data collected by the Health and Retirement Study and calculates the "potential additional annuity income" that households could purchase, given their holdings of non-annuitized financial assets at the start of retirement. Even if households used all of their financial assets inside and outside personal retirement accounts to purchase a life annuity, only 47 percent of households between the ages of 65 and 69 in 2008 could increase their life-contingent income by more than $5,000 per year. At the upper end of the wealth distribution, however, a substantial number of households could make large annuity purchases. The paper also considers the role of housing equity in the portfolios of retirement-age households, and explores the extent to which households draw down housing equity and financial assets as they age. Many households appear to treat housing equity and non-annuitized financial assets as "precautionary savings," tending to draw them down only when they experience a shock such as the death of a spouse or a period of substantial medical outlays. Because home equity is often conserved until very late in life, for many households it may provide some insurance against the risk of living longer than expected.

Suggested Citation

Poterba, James M. and Poterba, James M. and Venti, Steven F. and Wise, David A., The Composition and Draw-Down of Wealth in Retirement (October 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17536, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1950954

James M. Poterba (Contact Author)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics ( email )

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Steven F. Venti

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David A. Wise

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

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