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Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement?

Mariacristina De Nardi, Eric French, John Jones and Rory McGee

No 49, Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Abstract: While the savings of retired singles tend to fall with age, those of retired couples tend to rise. We estimate a rich model of retired singles and couples with bequest motives and uncertain longevity and medical expenses. Our estimates imply that while medical expenses are an important driver of the savings of middle-income singles, bequest motives matter for couples and high-income singles, and generate transfers to non-spousal heirs whenever a household member dies. The interaction of medical expenses and bequest motives is a crucial determinant of savings for all retirees. Hence, to understand savings, it is important to model household structure, medical expenses, and bequest motives.

Keywords: Couples; Singles; Savings; Medical expenses; Bequest motives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D15 D31 E21 H31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 66
Date: 2021-05-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-cwa, nep-dge, nep-hea and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement? (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement? (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement? (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Why do couples and singles save during retirement? (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement? (2021) Downloads
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedmoi:92751

DOI: 10.21034/iwp.49

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