The Effect of Health on Retirement Saving Among Older Workers

Using data from the first wave of the Health and Retirement Study, the authors investigated the association between health and retirement saving. The two most important findings were that (1) health has a large, significant effect on both the probability that a person nearing retirement age will contribute to an IRA and the amount of money that a person Will hold in IRAs, and (2) a spouse's health has a large, significant effect on a person's access to an employer-sponsored pension, the probability that a person will contribute to an IRA, and the amount of money held in an IRA.