Interactions Between Financial Incentives and Health in the Early Retirement Decision
Interactions Between Financial Incentives and Health in the Early Retirement Decision

Author: Pilar Garcia-Gomez

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13:

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We present a theory of the relation between health and retirement that generates testable predictions regarding the interaction of health, wealth and financial incentives in retirement decisions. The theory predicts (i) that wealthier individuals (compared to poorer individuals) are more likely to retire for health reasons (affordability proposition), and (ii) that health problems make older workers more responsive to financial incentives encouraging retirement (reinforcement proposition). We test these predictions using administrative data on older employees in the Dutch healthcare sector for whom we link adverse health events, proxied by unanticipated hospitalizations, to information on retirement decisions and actual incentives from administrative records of the pension funds. Exploiting unexpected health shocks and quasi-exogenous variation in financial incentives for retirement due to reforms, we account for the endogeneity of health and financial incentives. Making use of the actual individual pension rights diminishes downward bias in estimates of the effect of pension incentives. We find support for our affordability and reinforcement propositions. Both propositions require the benefits function to be convex, as in our data. Our theory and empirical findings highlight the importance of assessing financial incentives for their potential reinforcement of health shocks and point to the possibility that differences in responses to financial incentives and health shocks across countries may relate to whether the benefit function is concave or convex.

Social Security and Early Retirement
Social Security and Early Retirement

Author: Robert Fenge

Publisher: CESifo Book

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13:

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Theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between retirement decision and pension systems, with policy recommendations for reversing the current trend toward early retirement. The contrasting trends toward earlier retirement and greater longevity have resulted in steadily increasing retirement costs over the last forty years. One important factor influencing early retirement decisions is the expansion of retirement benefits; but studies predict that most countries, particularly those with early retirement incentives, will be unable to meet future pension and social security obligations. In this timely CESifo volume, Robert Fenge and Pierre Pestieau examine empirical and theoretical evidence that explains why early retirement has become such a burden for social security systems and suggest pension system reforms that will reverse the trend. Drawing on evidence from the European Union (with comparisons to other industrialized countries including the United States and Canada), the authors demonstrate that the effective retirement age is influenced by social security regulations (such as a change in eligibility age) and discuss ways of measuring these embedded incentives. Fenge and Pestieau examine the implicit taxes on prolonged working life from normative and political economy perspectives. They discuss optimal payroll tax rates that minimize distortions of labor supply and retirement decisions and consider alternative ways to finance benefits, including consumption and capital income taxation. They discuss why policies are designed to discourage employment among older workers and why reforms to counter this often meet resistance. They demonstrate, contrary to the belief of many European governments, that pushing older workers into retirement does not free jobs for young unemployed workers. They show that the gap between salaries and productivity is an incentive for employers to rid themselves of older workers and argue that governments should not support this behavior by compensating older workers for the difference between severance payments and salaries in early retirement programs.

Retirement Decisions
Retirement Decisions

Author: United States. Government Accountability Office

Publisher: Nova Science Pub Incorporated

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 87

ISBN-13: 9781604568127

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The first wave of the 78 million member baby boom generation is now reaching retirement age. The number of people age 62, the earliest age of eligibility for Social Security retired worker benefits, is expected to be 21 percent higher in 2009 than in 2008. In addition, by 2030, the number of workers supporting each retiree is projected to be 2.2, down from 3.3 in 2006. This demographic shift poses challenges to the economy, federal tax revenues, the nation's old-age programs, and individuals' financial security in retirement. For those who are able to work longer, later retirement can strengthen the economy and also retiree incomes by postponing the time at which people will start drawing retirement benefits rather than working. A wide range of factors including the features of employers' benefit plans, personal finances, social norms, health, and individual attitudes influence workers' decisions about when to retire. Federal policies may also play a role: these include Social Security, Medicare, and tax policies related to certain private retiree health and defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension plans.1 Identifying both the incentives posed by these policies and the extent to which workers respond to them can help to inform policy makers as they consider ways to address the demographic challenges facing the nation. To determine the extent to which federal policiesdirectly and indirectly-pose incentives and are influencing individuals decisions about the age at which they retire, the authors have pursued the following questions: (1) What incentives do federal policies provide about when to retire? (2) What are the recent retirement patterns, and is there evidence that recent changes in Social Security requirements have resulted in later retirements? (3) Is there evidence that tax-favored private retiree health insurance and pension benefits have influenced when people retire? This is a revised and excerpted version.

Aging and the Macroeconomy
Aging and the Macroeconomy

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-01-10

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 0309261961

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The United States is in the midst of a major demographic shift. In the coming decades, people aged 65 and over will make up an increasingly large percentage of the population: The ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 will rise by 80%. This shift is happening for two reasons: people are living longer, and many couples are choosing to have fewer children and to have those children somewhat later in life. The resulting demographic shift will present the nation with economic challenges, both to absorb the costs and to leverage the benefits of an aging population. Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population presents the fundamental factors driving the aging of the U.S. population, as well as its societal implications and likely long-term macroeconomic effects in a global context. The report finds that, while population aging does not pose an insurmountable challenge to the nation, it is imperative that sensible policies are implemented soon to allow companies and households to respond. It offers four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape.

The Oxford Handbook of Retirement
The Oxford Handbook of Retirement

Author: Mo Wang

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 660

ISBN-13: 0199746524

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This handbook reviews existing theoretical perspectives and research findings on retirement, explores current and future challenges in retirement research and practice, and provides corresponding recommendations and suggestions.

Retirement
Retirement

Author: Gary A. Adams

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9780826120540

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For students, researchers, and practitioners in such fields as gerontology, industrial and organizational psychology, and human resources management, contributors from those fields synthesize the current literature on retirement and suggest areas for future research and practice. The sections cover before retirement, deciding to retire, and after retirement. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Moral Hazard in Health Insurance
Moral Hazard in Health Insurance

Author: Amy Finkelstein

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-12-02

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0231538685

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Addressing the challenge of covering heath care expenses—while minimizing economic risks. Moral hazard—the tendency to change behavior when the cost of that behavior will be borne by others—is a particularly tricky question when considering health care. Kenneth J. Arrow’s seminal 1963 paper on this topic (included in this volume) was one of the first to explore the implication of moral hazard for health care, and Amy Finkelstein—recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic—here examines this issue in the context of contemporary American health care policy. Drawing on research from both the original RAND Health Insurance Experiment and her own research, including a 2008 Health Insurance Experiment in Oregon, Finkelstein presents compelling evidence that health insurance does indeed affect medical spending and encourages policy solutions that acknowledge and account for this. The volume also features commentaries and insights from other renowned economists, including an introduction by Joseph P. Newhouse that provides context for the discussion, a commentary from Jonathan Gruber that considers provider-side moral hazard, and reflections from Joseph E. Stiglitz and Kenneth J. Arrow. “Reads like a fireside chat among a group of distinguished, articulate health economists.” —Choice

Ending a Career in the Auto Industry
Ending a Career in the Auto Industry

Author: Melissa A. Hardy

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-08-29

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 0585343497

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During the 1980s the news media were filled with reports of soaring unemployment as 'downsizing' and `restructuring' became the new buzzwords. Firms managed their workforce reduction by increasing the attractiveness of their pension plans-especially their early-retirement plans. In this volume, the authors examine the U.S. auto industry and present a full-scale analysis of the work and retirement decisions of its workers. They address organizational context and the logic of financial incentives in employer-provided early retirement plans. The impact of pension provisions, layoffs, plant closures, attitudes about `generational equity', and other factors influencing the workers' evaluation of the optimum time to end their careers in the auto industry are explored.

Federal Evaluations
Federal Evaluations

Author:

Publisher:

Published:

Total Pages: 776

ISBN-13:

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Contains an inventory of evaluation reports produced by and for selected Federal agencies, including GAO evaluation reports that relate to the programs of those agencies.