Journal Article

Asset rundown after retirement: the importance of rate of return shocks


Abstract: The authors provide evidence that households run down their assets after retirement by tracking a group of elderly households over the 1996?2004 period. They find that assets decline for these households approaching the end of the life cycle. Had there not been a run-up in asset prices due in large part to a historically remarkable rise in housing prices, assets would have declined even faster.

Keywords: Retirement; Investments; Business cycles;

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Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Part of Series: Economic Perspectives

Publication Date: 2007

Volume: 31

Issue: Q II