The past few decades have witnessed a global move towards private provision for retirement through individual defined contribution pensions at the expense of publicly provided and employer-sponsored defined benefit pensions. As a consequence, workers and retirees are becoming increasingly...

As most other OECD Member countries had already done, Australia has, since 1991, supplemented an existing flat-rate universal (but means-tested) residence-based old-age pension by a compulsory earnings related second tier for employees known as the “Superannuation Guarantee”. However, it was...

As most other OECD Member countries had already done, Australia has, since 1991, supplemented an existing flat-rate universal (but means-tested) residence-based old-age pension by a compulsory earnings related second tier for employees known as the “Superannuation Guarantee”. However, it was...

The world’s allegedly shortest mail correspondence took place in 1862. The French author Victor Hugo had gone on vacation as his big novel Les miserable was published. But Hugo could not refrain himself from writing to the publisher to ask how it went. The letter read: « ? » and the...

In 1998, Sweden introduced a second tier of mandatory individual accounts in the public pension system. This paper examinesinvestment choice in the Swedish individual account scheme focusing on two aspects of the investment decision: Do workers with high risk in their human capital diversify...

We study nearly 7,000 retirement accounts during the April 1994-August 1998 period. Several interesting patterns emerge. Most asset allocations are extreme (either 100 percent or zero percent in equities) and there is inertia in asset allocations. Equity allocations are higher for males, married...