Asset Wealth and Asset Decumulation among Households in the Retirement Survey

Abstract

This paper examines the asset positions of households at and around retirement in Britain using the Retirement Survey ‘waves’ of 1988–89 and 1994. The data provide the first panel evidence on retirement behaviour and asset evolution for a sample of older households in Britain. The analysis in this paper shows the importance of housing and private pension wealth for this age‐group in Britain, and also the differential wealth holdings between surviving respondents and those who died or failed to respond for other reasons in 1994. It provides some preliminary evidence as to whether households decumulate assets after retirement in accordance with the ‘textbook’ version of the Life‐Cycle Hypothesis of consumption.

Selection Effects in the United Kingdom Individual Annuities Market

“… This has been documented recently by Attanasio and Hoynes (2000), Attanasio and Emmerson (1999), Disney et al. (1998), and the Office of National Statistics (1997). …”

Prepared for retirement? The adequacy and distribution of retirement resources in England

“…Disney, Johnson and Stears (1998), Banks and Tanner (1999) and Banks, Smith and Wakefield (2002) all show that this was the case across all age groups in Britain. Banks, Karlsen and Oldfield (2003) found the same result across families aged between 50 and the state pension age (SPA) in England using the ELSA data.…”

“…Using data from this study, Disney, Johnson and Stears (1998) show that pension wealth was a large component of overall wealth. They calculate that mean total wealth in 1988-89 was £212,400, with 25 per cent of mean wealth held in occupational pensions, 32 per cent in state pensions, 35 per cent in housing wealth and just 8 per cent in financial wealth.…”

Applying data visualization and knowledge discovery in databases to segment the market for risky financial assets

“…For example, Banks and Tanner (1996) have used the Family Expenditure Survey to note that one fifth of households have no liquid wealth, with only the highest wealth households holding more than one or two different assets. More recently, Disney et al (1998) have pointed to the links between housing wealth and financial wealth, with the ownership of financial assets possibly compensating for falling house prices. Leece (1999) has evaluated the impact of incomplete portfolios and liquidity constraints on mortgage market choices.…”