Chapter 9. Investing and Portfolio Allocation for Retirement

The demographic situation in the majority of industrialized countries calls for the increasing participation in funded retirement programs, should the prospective retirees desire to maintain their habitual standard of living in retirement. This poses new challenges for both prospective retirees and policymakers and reveals the need for easily accessible information on the subject. The goal of this chapter is to supply such essential knowledge by summarizing various important facts and research findings about investing and portfolio allocation for retirement. This chapter describes the main risks, assets, and investment products that are relevant for retirement saving, and the main research related to portfolio choice over the lifecycle and annuities. The composition of the retirement portfolio during the working life and use of funds in retirement are examined in light of the lifecycle research. This chapter provides an overview of the literature and exemplifies the research results.