Determinants of Retirement Assets and the Amount in Stock in Retirement Assets

Abstract

This study proposed that human capital, health capital, attitudes toward finances, and the relative bargaining power of the spouse would influence the ownership and the amount of a person's retirement assets and the ownership and amount in stocks within the retirement assets. Using data from couples in the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, the results of logistic regressions and ordinary least squares regressions showed some support for each theory. The household heads who had more education, those who were in better health, and those who would take more risk when saving and investing were more likely to own some retirement assets and they had more in retirement assets. In regard to spousal influence, there was support for the bargaining power model but not for the shared resources model. As the spouse's level of education increased, the household head was more likely to own retirement assets and there was more in the retirement assets. The working status of the spouse and whether the spouse was more financially knowledgeable had a negative influence on retirement assets and the amount in assets. However, the amount of variance that was explained by the spousal variables was small; therefore, the results regarding the spouse's influence should be viewed with caution.