Together, pensions, social security and health insurance account for half of the wealth held by all households in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), for 60 percent of total wealth of HRS households who are in the 45th to 55th wealth percentiles, and even for 48 percent of wealth for those in...

In 2008, the oldest of 78 million baby boomers will celebrate their 62nd birthdays. Before they blow out their birthday candles, they will have considered and likely decided whether to elect to take early Social Security retirement benefits (SSRBs). Recent and evolving changes in the normal...

This paper uses earnings histories from the Social Security Administration, linked to the survey responses for participants in the Health and Retirement Study, to investigate redistribution under the current social security benefit formula. As advertised, own benefits are significantly...

It is usually accepted that a pure NDC scheme is not adequate to protect individuals against the risk of poverty in old age, because it does not incorporate any redistribution of the system`s revenue. However, we show that insufficient coverage and weak social protection can be more serious...

In Uruguay, the pension programs cover over 90% of the elderly. Men are more likely to be eligible for the contributory pensions, while women are over-represented in the assistential and survivor pension programs. This difference is linked to the fact that women tend to have longer spells out of...

We analyze recent trends of the activity rates and retirement of Uruguayan old age workers. We find that in Uruguay, unlike in several developed countries and most Latin American countries, the activity rates of old-age men are not falling. On the contrary, in recent decades the activity rate of...

Married individuals may be better placed to mitigate various lifecycle shocks than singles. We find evidence of valuable insurance through a spouse by looking at parental long-term care provision at older ages. Utilizing longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, we empirically show...

The United States Social Security Amendments of 1983 (SSA1983) increased the full retirement age (FRA) and increased penalties for retiring before the FRA. This cut to retirement benefits caused spillover effects on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications and receipt by making...

Why do individuals retire and claim their Social Security benefits at the age they do? Understanding the key drivers of these decisions has been an important topic of research as it can help guide policy discussions on the impact of potential reforms to the Social Security program. We revisit...