Pathways to Retirement through Self-Employment

Shanthi Ramnath, John B. Shoven and Sita Slavov

No 23551, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine the role of self-employment in retirement transitions using a panel of administrative tax data. We find that the hazard of self-employment increases at popular retirement ages associated with Social Security eligibility, particularly for those with greater retirement wealth. Late-career transitions to self-employment are associated with a larger drop in income than similar mid-career transitions. Data from the Health and Retirement Study suggest that hours worked also fall upon switching to self-employment. These results suggest that self-employment at older ages may serve as a “bridge job,” allowing workers to gradually reduce hours and earnings along the pathway to retirement.

JEL-codes: H55 J26 J29 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-lma and nep-pbe
Note: AG PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Published as Shanthi Ramnath & John B. Shoven & Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2021. "Pathways to retirement through self-employment," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, vol 20(2), pages 232-251.

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