%0 Journal Article %J Research on Aging %D 2017 %T Health Status, Health Shocks, and Asset Adequacy Over Retirement Years. %A Geoffrey L Wallace %A Haveman, Robert %A Barbara Wolfe %K Health Conditions and Status %K Health Shocks %K Older Adults %K Retirement Planning and Satisfaction %X

This article uses data on a sample of retirees drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine changes in health over the retirement years and to estimate the effects of health changes in retirement on wealth. Using the framework of item response theory, we develop a novel measure of health that makes use of multiple indicators of physical health that are available in the HRS. We find that large negative shocks to the health of male retirees and their spouses are frequent in retirement and that when such shocks do occur, recovery to the preshock level of health is rare. Using a dynamic panel data model, we then estimate short- and long-run effects of changes in health on wealth. While our estimated short-run effects are modest, long-run estimates of the impact of health shocks on wealth are large, ranging from a 12% to 20% reduction in wealth by the 10th year, following a permanent one standard deviation decrease in health.

%B Research on Aging %V 39 %P 222-248 %8 2017 Jan %G eng %N 1 %R 10.1177/0164027516669567 %0 Book Section %B Lifecycle Events and Their Consequences: Job Loss, Family Change, and Declines in Health %D 2013 %T Health and Wealth in Early Retirement %A Geoffrey L Wallace %A Haveman, Robert %A Karen C. Holden %A Barbara Wolfe %E Kenneth A. Couch %E Mary C. Daly %E Julie M Zissimopoulos %K Health Conditions and Status %K Income %K Retirement Planning and Satisfaction %X Retirement years are a precarious time for many older Americans. Even if successful in accumulating resources expected to be sufficient to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, many retirees face unexpected adverse health shocks after retirement. Because of the uncertainty of shocks to physical and cognitive health, there exists the potential for significant deterioration in resource adequacy both at the time of retirement and into the retirement years due to their occurrence. In this study, we select a sample of new retirees constructed from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data and follow them during the first decade of their retirement. Using these data, we identify the nature of shocks to physical and cognitive health for which individuals are at risk during their retirement years, and estimate both the absolute and relative risk of these shocks. We then estimate the impact of the occurrence of these shocks on wealth-based measures of retirement adequacy. %B Lifecycle Events and Their Consequences: Job Loss, Family Change, and Declines in Health %I Stanford University %C Stanford, CA %P 261-279 %G eng %4 health shocks/retirement planning/retirement adequacy/physical health/cognitive health %$ 999999 %! Health and Wealth in Early Retirement %0 Report %D 2010 %T Trigger Events and Financial Outcomes Among Older Households %A Geoffrey L Wallace %A Haveman, Robert %A Karen C. Holden %A Barbara Wolfe %K Adult children %K Health Conditions and Status %K Healthcare %K Net Worth and Assets %K Social Security %X Follow a sample of social security beneficiaries drawn from the Health and Retirement Study from their first year of retirement up to 15 years into retirement, we estimate rates at which retirees are subject to family structure change, cognitive decline, health decline, and other events. Then we assess the vulnerability of wealth and wealth-based adequacy measures to adverse events, drawing conclusions about the effect of events on a wealth-based measure and a wealth-based inadequacy measure. Our findings highlight the importance of cognitive and health decline as events with the potential to shape the evolution of wealth post-retirement. %B Center for Financial Security Working Paper %I Center for Financial Security, University of Wisconsin-Madison %C Madison, WI %G eng %U https://cfs.wisc.edu/2010/09/10/trigger-events-and-financial-outcomes-among-older-households/ %4 social Security/wealth/adverse events/adverse events/Cognitive decline/health decline/Families %$ 26170 %0 Book Section %B Redefining Retirement: How Will Boomers Fare? %D 2007 %T The Sufficiency of Retirement Savings: Comparing Cohorts at the Time of Retirement %A Haveman, Robert %A Karen C. Holden %A Barbara Wolfe %A Romanov, Andrei %K Consumption and Savings %K Income %K Other %X Assessing savings sufficiency requires detailed information on both potential retirement benefits and the characteristics of a national sample of older citizens. This chapter uses the Health and Retirement Survey and the New Beneficiary Survey linked to administrative records to assess and compare the saving adequacy of two different cohorts. Specifically we compare the two groups in terms of their annuitized net wealth (ANW) and ANW relative to the poverty line, as well as the near-poverty line. We find that the mean wealth levels of both new retiree cohorts rose over time (by about two-thirds for wealth and by half for ANW), but the chance of meeting social adequacy targets has also risen. This shortfall we believe is concentrated increasingly among nonmarried persons, and those with low human capital and labor force attachment. In other words, vulnerability during the working life appears to persist into retirement. %B Redefining Retirement: How Will Boomers Fare? %I Oxford University Press %C New York, NY %G eng %U https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1363&context=prc_papers %4 Retirement Saving/retirement adequacy/COHORT %$ 18120