In Debt and Approaching Retirement: Claim Social Security or Work Longer?
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 108,
May 2018
(pp. 401-06)
Abstract
Over the past couple of decades, older Americans have become considerably more leveraged. This paper considers whether household debt affects the timing of retirement and Social Security benefit claiming. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that older adults with debt are more likely to work and less likely to receive Social Security benefits than those who are debt-free. Indebted adults are also more likely to delay fully retiring from the labor force and claiming their benefits. Among the sources of debt, mortgages have a stronger impact on older adults' behavior than do other sources of debt.Citation
Butrica, Barbara A., and Nadia S. Karamcheva. 2018. "In Debt and Approaching Retirement: Claim Social Security or Work Longer?" AEA Papers and Proceedings, 108: 401-06. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20181116Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
- H55 Social Security and Public Pensions
- J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
- J26 Retirement; Retirement Policies