Low Levels of Retirement Resources in the Near-Elderly Time Period and Future Participation in Means-Tested Programs

This article describes the de facto standards of low income and resources reflected in the eligibility standards of the largest means-tested programs that serve the elderly and then applies these standards to a near-elderly cohort. Through juxtaposing retirement resources in the near-elderly time period with program participation in the elderly time period, the author indirectly examines some of the changes between the two time periods that could affect program eligibility, including spend-down of resources and marital dissolution. Retirement resource levels are estimated using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and subsequent participation in one of the means-tested programs - Supplemental Security Income (SSI) - is examined using matched administrative records. Although spend-down of resources is shown to occur for only 8.7 percent of eventual SSI program participants, it is more common in the part of the near-elderly population that faces the greatest incentive to decrease resource levels