Retirement Security in an Aging Population
- (pp. 1-30)
Abstract
Elderly individuals exhibit wide disparities in their sources of income. For those in the bottom half of the income distribution, Social Security is the most important source of support; program changes would directly affect their well-being. Income from private pensions, assets, and earnings are relatively more important for higher-income elderly individuals, who have more diverse income sources. The trend from private sector defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans has shifted responsibility for retirement security to individuals. A significant subset of the population is unlikely to be able to sustain their standard of living in retirement without higher pre-retirement saving.Citation
Poterba, James M. 2014. "Retirement Security in an Aging Population." American Economic Review, 104 (5): 1-30. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.5.1Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- H55 Social Security and Public Pensions
- I31 General Welfare; Well-Being
- J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
- J26 Retirement; Retirement Policies