Retirement puzzles: New evidence from personal finances

Arna Olafsson and Michaela Pagel

Journal of Public Economics, 2024, vol. 234, issue C

Abstract: Using comprehensive transaction-level panel data, we document that individuals repay their consumer debt and save more after they retire. These findings are puzzling because, in principle, people should save more before, rather than after, the expected decrease in income upon retirement. We discuss several potential explanations for our findings, including reductions in work-related expenses and increases in medical health risks around retirement, which are the leading explanations of the so-called retirement-consumption and retirement-savings puzzles. We thereby inform the larger question of whether individuals save enough for retirement.

Keywords: Retirement; Savings; Consumer debt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D14 E21 G51 J26 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:234:y:2024:i:c:s0047272724000392

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105103

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