Full length article
Income trajectories in later life: Longitudinal evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100371Get rights and content
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Abstract

We track low-income respondents in the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study for 23 years, to observe how their financial situations unfolded as they aged. We document that (a) real incomes remained relatively stable as individuals entered retirement and progressed through their later years; and (b) labor force participation declined and thus earnings became less important with age, while Social Security and retirement savings rose as a proportion of annual income. Low-income people near retirement also tended to fare poorly during retirement.

Keywords

Financial literacy
Financial resilience
Aging
Vulnerable groups

JEL classification

G53
D14
I38

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