We show that older male pensioners have substantially lower incomes than younger pensioners.

Individuals in the UK now face an effective choice between joining different types of pension plan.

In this paper we ask whether households are saving enough for their retirement.

We study transitions in and out of work for men over the age of forty in order to investigate the principal determinants of retirement age.

The study, using the 1988-89 Retirement Survey in Britain: (i) estimates expenditure on housing relative to income for the sample aged 55-69, (ii) simulates optimal housing/consumption allocations for a simple life cycle model and (iii) examines the relationship between 'excess' holdings of housing, financial dissaving and other portfolio behaviour subsequent to retirement.