Debt and Financial Vulnerability on the Verge of Retirement

We analyze older individuals’ debt and financial vulnerability using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). In the HRS, we compare three groups of people age 56–61 in 1992, 2004, and 2010, to assess cross-cohort changes in debt over time. Two waves of the NFCS (2012 and 2015) provide additional insights into debt management and older individuals’ capacity to shield themselves against shocks. We conclude that recent cohorts hold more debt and face more financial insecurity than in the past. This will render them particularly vulnerable to forecasted interest rate increases.     

Pension Freedom Day in the United Kingdom: Early evaluation of consumer response

Understanding decumulation decisions in retirement is an important component of public policy that influences pension regulations in aging societies. This research examined a recent, substantial change to pension regulation in the United Kingdom: the newly established flexibility to obtain a lump‐sum payout from personal or occupational pension savings. Conducting an online survey of individual’s eligible to take advantage of the Pension Freedom regulation, we find that almost half of study participants plan to obtain a lump‐sum payout, on average £33,741, intending it for an average of three different investments or purchases. The decision to obtain a lump‐sum withdrawal was related to better knowledge of the new regulation. It was also more likely among older respondents and those not worried about a decline in standard of living during retirement. Dispositional measures did not affect the lump‐sum decision. Close to one‐third of study participants still planned to invest retirement savings into an annuity, especially those who retire at a later age, have concerns about care costs and worry about decline in standard of living in retirement. Comments about the changes to pension regulation were slightly more positive than negative. From our analysis of the effect of the Pension Freedom regulation on savings decumulation decisions, we conclude that the new Pension Freedom regulations do meet consumer demands, and demonstrate that pension knowledge and retirement expectations, in particular, influence consumer evaluations. We further conclude that annuity investments continue to play a role for older adults in the United Kingdom, especially for those concerned about meeting financial needs during retirement.     

Pension principles in the Swedish pension system

This article analyses the role of pension principles of funding and benefit provision for the development of the Swedish pension system. Focusing on four major public pension reforms in the twentieth century, it discusses why certain pension principles were used and under what circumstances they were more or less likely to change. The analysis shows that change was implemented to a large extent as a response to the previous pension system failing to fulfil its intended purpose in terms of financial stability, work incentives and redistribution.     

Do the French pension reforms increase re-employment of older unemployed workers?

ABSTRACT

The sustainability of Social Security financing has pushed authorities to reform their policy to increase the labour market participation of older workers. While most of the studies have focused on the consequences of pension reform on retirement decisions, we analyse the effects of two French pension reforms, which increased the period of contribution and the minimum retirement age, on transitions out of unemployment and into employment with a difference-in-differences approach. We find that both retirement reforms have positive effects on the re-employment of older unemployed workers. The pension reforms are also accompanied by an increase of the transitions into inactivity. The results suggest that the reforms have delivered significant effects by reducing the unemployment of older workers.     

一种小规模超宽带相控阵天线设计

目前基于阵元间强耦合效应已设计出超宽带相控阵天线，但是其规模较大。针对规模小或者在扫描方向上规模小，如何增强阵元间耦合而实现超宽带相控阵天线的问题，采用平衡对踵Vivaldi天线(BAVA)作为天线单元，优化天线单元辐射金属的形状，并采用镜像法布阵天线单元设计出一个小规模4×16的斜极化超宽带相控阵天线。仿真和试验结果表明，采用的方法可以增强小规模超宽带相控阵天线的阵元间耦合效应，实现频率0.8f0~2.0f0驻波比小于2，法向增益达17.34~23.0 dBi，在±45°范围内实现无栅瓣扫描。该小规模超宽带相控阵天线已在实际工程中应用。     

Life Expectancy and Claiming Behavior in a Flexible Pension System

We study the relationship between early claiming of pensions and incentives in the highly flexible Norwegian public pension system, measuring incentives to claim based on an estimated model for expected longevity. Despite a strong correlation between incentives and claiming decisions, the additional costs to public budgets arising from this selection turn out to be modest. Based on analyses exploiting only variation in expected pensions generated by variation in parental longevities and only claiming of pensions not in conjunction with retirement, we conclude that part of the selection is active: some individuals claim pensions early because they gain from doing so.     

基于国际比较的中国居民金融素养特征研究

国际上居民金融素养研究已广泛展开。本文基于国际比较的多层次知识点研究表明:中国居民金融素养处于国际中等水平,对经济金融知识了解程度的自我评价较为客观;得益于社会实践经验,居民对复利和通货膨胀知识了解程度与发达国家基本一致,但对风险分散的认知存在显著偏差,尤其对同类金融产品的风险特征认知不清,具体表现在对实现分散化投资效益的长期投资理念严重缺失。面临金融监管制度性缺位和复杂的金融环境,保护中国金融消费者权益,满足居民不断增长的金融需求,普及金融教育,提升公众金融素养才是最有效途径。     

Taxes and the growth in mutual funds: Evidence from OBRA 93

In recent years, individuals have steadily moved from direct ownership of equities to holding securities through mutual funds. Prior research has attributed this phenomenon to tax incentives to hold mutual funds in tax-preferred retirement accounts. In contrast, employing household-level microdata and using OBRA 93 as a quasi-natural experimental setting, we find that on average, investors reduced their mutual fund holdings within tax-preferred accounts following a tax rate increase. However, we also observe that this effect is primarily driven by investors with relatively high trading activity within their tax-preferred accounts; investors exhibiting relatively low trading activity generally increased their mutual fund investments in these accounts after OBRA 93. Investors who increased their mutual fund holdings did not do so by rebalancing away from other asset classes. Collectively, our results suggest that taxes are not driving the growth in mutual funds. This finding has important public policy implications because of the growing popularity of using mutual funds as a retirement savings vehicle, the dwindling number of individuals covered by defined benefit plans, the dramatic increase in the importance of mutual funds as a financial intermediary, and the continued state of flux in U.S. tax policy.     

“做实做小”养老金个人账户改革的问题与对策

"做实做小"养老金个人账户是我国养老保险改革进程中重要的一步.文章在介绍东三省养老金个人账户试点改革方案的基础上,分析了上海等八省市试点推广改革的内容以及改革在推进过程中遇到的难题,并对出现的问题提出相应的对策建议.     

机关、事业和企业联动的“新养老策论”

文章针对2008年《事业单位工作人员养老保险制度改革试点方案》的若干不足之处,提出了机关、事业和企业三单位联动的养老保险制度改革方案。在明确新养老策论基本含义和内涵的基础上,分析了新养老策论提出的动因和背景,重点探讨了新养老策论提出的理论与现实依据,以及如何完善和实施等问题。新养老策论可以为我国特别是城镇养老保险制度改革提供重要思路和解决路径。