Brief Diversity in Retirement Wealth Accumulation
Gordon B. Mermin, Desmond Toohey, Sheila R. Zedlewski
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Americans save for retirement by building wealth in personal accounts, home equity, pension plans, retirement accounts and Social Security. We use data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and methods to estimate the wealth values of Social Security and pension plans to show how wealth builds over the life cycle. We find that the typical household accrues wealth throughout the life cycle. Households in the bottom income quintile, those that did not complete high school and minorities accumulate much less wealth than their counterparts, and Social Security accounts for a large share of their preretirement wealth.
Research Areas Economic mobility and inequality Wealth and financial well-being Aging and retirement
Tags Social Security Economic well-being Asset and debts Pensions Income and wealth distribution Retirement policy Financial stability
Policy Centers Income and Benefits Policy Center