The Evolution of Retirement Wealth

Sebastian Devlin-Foltz, Alice Henriques Volz and John Edward Sabelhaus ()
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Alice Henriques Volz: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/alice-henriques-volz.htm

No 2015-9, Finance and Economics Discussion Series from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Abstract: Is the current mix of tax preferences for employer-sponsored pensions and individual retirement saving in the U.S. delivering the best possible retirement-preparedness across and within generations? Using data from the triennial Survey of Consumer Finances for 1989 through 2013, cohort-based analysis of life-cycle trajectories shows that (1) overall retirement plan participation was relatively stable or even rising through 2007, though participation fell noticeably in the wake of the Great Recession and has remained lower, (2) participation is strongly correlated with income, and the shift in the type of pension coverage occurred within--not just across--income groups, (3) relative to previous cohorts and a counterfactual lifecycle benchmark, the recent decline in retirement plan participation and defined contribution (DC) retirement account balance-to-income ratios is concentrated among younger families and lower-income families.

Keywords: Lifecycle; pension; retirement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 H55 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2015-02-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age
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http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/feds/2015/files/2015009pap.pdf Full text (application/pdf)
http://dx.doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2015.009 http://dx.doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2015.009 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2015-09

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