John Sabelhaus
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View article: Wealth Inequality and Retirement Preparedness
Wealth Inequality and Retirement Preparedness Open
High and rising US wealth inequality underscores the need to revisit a perennial concern in policy circles: retirement preparedness. Our cross-cohort approach to studying retirement adequacy is based on relative wealth measures, meaning ho…
View article: Retirement System Resiliency in the Face of Real-World Shocks
Retirement System Resiliency in the Face of Real-World Shocks Open
Labor market shocks and financial stresses are shaping how older workers fare as they head into retirement, as well as how younger workers are preparing financially for their future. These shocks come on top of long-standing concerns surro…
View article: What Role for ‘Generational Wealth’ in Explaining Racial Wealth Disparities?
What Role for ‘Generational Wealth’ in Explaining Racial Wealth Disparities? Open
In light of a recent surge of interest in the topic of “generational wealth” and its potential to close racial disparities in wealth, this paper revisits an older literature with updated data and methods. Previous research found that inher…
View article: How Does Social Security Affect the Racial Wealth Gap?
How Does Social Security Affect the Racial Wealth Gap? Open
The large and persistent gap by race in U.S. household wealth is a well-established empirical fact, though the causal mechanisms for wealth differentials are still a subject of much debate. Previous research on wealth inequality has shown …
View article: Racial Wealth Disparities: Reconsidering the Roles of Human Capital and Inheritance
Racial Wealth Disparities: Reconsidering the Roles of Human Capital and Inheritance Open
In this paper, we present updated measures of racial disparities in wealth using the most recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), augmented by household-level estimates of defined benefit (DB) pension wealth developed by Sa…
View article: Social Security Wealth, Inequality, and Life-cycle Saving: An Update
Social Security Wealth, Inequality, and Life-cycle Saving: An Update Open
Social Security wealth (SSW) is the present value of future benefits an individual will receive less the present value of future taxes they will pay. When an individual enters the labor force, they generally face a lifetime of taxes to pay…
View article: Social Security Wealth, Inequality, and Lifecycle Saving
Social Security Wealth, Inequality, and Lifecycle Saving Open
Wealth inequality in the US is high and rising, but Social Security is generally not considered in those wealth measures.Social Security Wealth (SSW) is the present value of future benefits that an individual will receive less the present …
View article: Lifecycle Patterns of Saving and Wealth Accumulation
Lifecycle Patterns of Saving and Wealth Accumulation Open
Empirical analysis of U.S. income, saving and wealth dynamics is constrained by a lack of high-quality and comprehensive household-level panel data. This paper uses a pseudo-panel approach, tracking types of agents by birth cohort and acro…
View article: Lifecycle Patterns of Saving and Wealth Accumulation
Lifecycle Patterns of Saving and Wealth Accumulation Open
Empirical analysis of U.S. income, saving and wealth dynamics is constrained by a lack of high-quality and comprehensive household-level panel data. This paper uses a pseudo-panel approach, tracking types of agents by birth cohort and acro…
View article: Are Disappearing Employer Pensions Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality?
Are Disappearing Employer Pensions Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality? Open
Focusing our attention on families close to retirement, we consider the interplay between employer-sponsored retirement wealth and Social Security.
View article: How Does Intergenerational Wealth Transmission Affect Wealth Concentration?
How Does Intergenerational Wealth Transmission Affect Wealth Concentration? Open
In this note, we seek to establish the role of intergenerational wealth transmission by using the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which contains extensive information about household balance sheets, intergenerati…
View article: Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2013 to 2016: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2013 to 2016: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances Open
Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances The Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2016 provides insights into the evolution of family income and net worth since the previous time the survey was cond…
View article: The Role of Social Security in Overall Retirement Resources: A Distributional Perspective
The Role of Social Security in Overall Retirement Resources: A Distributional Perspective Open
In this note, we first present trends in participation in employment-related retirement plans, and then provide analysis for one birth cohort, nearing retirement age, of the impact of Social Security on retirement wealth.
View article: Has Tax-Preferred Retirement Saving Offset Rising Wealth Concentration?
Has Tax-Preferred Retirement Saving Offset Rising Wealth Concentration? Open
The share of wealth owned by top wealth-holders in the U.S. has been rising over the past few decades, though there is some debate about exactly how concentrated wealth is, and how fast those top wealth shares are rising.
View article: Heterogeneity in Economic Shocks and Household Spending in the US
Heterogeneity in Economic Shocks and Household Spending in the US Open
Large swings in aggregate household sector spending, especially for big‐ticket items such as cars and housing, have been a dominant feature of the macroeconomic landscape in the past two decades. Income and wealth inequality increased over…
View article: Replication data for: Estimating Top Income and Wealth Shares: Sensitivity to Data and Methods
Replication data for: Estimating Top Income and Wealth Shares: Sensitivity to Data and Methods Open
Administrative income tax data indicate that U.S. top income and wealth shares are both substantial and larger than shares observed in household surveys. However, these estimates are sensitive to the unit of analysis, the income concept me…
View article: Measuring Income and Wealth at the Top Using Administrative and Survey Data
Measuring Income and Wealth at the Top Using Administrative and Survey Data Open
Most available estimates of U.S. wealth and income concentration indicate that the top shares are high and have been rising in recent decades, but there is some disagreement about specific levels and trends. Household surveys are the tradi…
View article: Is the U.S. Retirement System Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality?
Is the U.S. Retirement System Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality? Open
Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances for 1989 through 2013 reveal five broad findings. First, overall retirement plan participation was stable or rising through 2007, though overall participation fell noticeably in the wake of the Gre…