Financial Fragility, Financial Resilience, and Pension Distributions

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
The Wharton School::Wharton Pension Research Council::Wharton Pension Research Council Working Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Economics
Subject
Financial resilience
Poverty dynamics
Aging
Funder
Grant number
Copyright date
2024-01
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Clark, Robert L
Contributor
Mitchell, Olivia S.
Abstract

We evaluate Americans’ financial robustness during the Covid-19 pandemic, using measures of financial resilience and financial fragility derived from US surveys of persons age 45-75 from 2020 to 2022. We analyze which factors were associated with resilience and fragility, discuss how these measures changed during the pandemic, and assess whether pre-pandemic resilience led to better outcomes during the period. Results show that stronger resilience was protective in terms of financial fragility, and financial literacy was associated with greater pension knowledge as well as better information about retirement plan distribution options. The more financially resilient were also more likely to select an annuity as a pension payout. Our findings imply that policies and programs enhancing financial resilience could help households better withstand economic shocks and address income needs in times of crisis.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
WP2024-02
Publication date
2024-01
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
This research was performed pursuant to a grant from the Institute of Consumer Money Management; the authors also acknowledge research support from the TIAA Institute as well as the Pension Research Council/Boettner Center at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Recommended citation
Collection