We use comparable data from the US and England to examine similarities and differences in the level and trajectories of assets among households aged 70 and over. We find that in the US assets on average decline gradually with age, while in England older households actually accumulate wealth. These differences appear to be driven largely, though not entirely, by housing wealth: over the period we consider, house price growth drove increases in housing wealth in England that more than offset the slow drawdown of non-housing wealth. This suggests the illiquid nature of housing is likely to be an important factor in explaining wealth drawdown at older ages. We also consider the potential importance of bequest motives and savings to insure against the risk of medical and long-term care expenses.
Authors
CPP Co-Director
Richard is Co-Director of the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP) and Senior Research Fellow at IFS.
Gemma Tetlow
CPP Co-Director
Eric is the Montague Burton Professor of Industrial Relations and Labour Economics at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Economics at UCL.
Rowena Crawford
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1475-5890.2016.12086
- Publisher
- Wiley
- JEL
- D14;D91;E21;J14
- Issue
- March 2016
Suggested citation
Blundell, R et al. (2016). 'Comparing Retirement Wealth Trajectories on Both Sides of the Pond' (2016)
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