The Effect of Inheritance Receipt on Retirement

31 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2006

See all articles by Jeffrey R. Brown

Jeffrey R. Brown

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Illinois College of Law; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Economics

Courtney Coile

Wellesley College; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Scott J. Weisbenner

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 2006

Abstract

This paper uses the receipt of an inheritance to measure the effect of wealth shocks on retirement. Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we first document that inheritance receipt is common among older workers - one in five households receives an inheritance over an eight-year period, with a median value of about $30,000. We find that inheritance receipt is associated with a significant increase in the probability of retirement. In particular, we find that receiving an inheritance increases the probability of retiring earlier than expected by 4.4 percentage points, or 12 percent relative to the baseline retirement rate, over an eight-year period. Importantly, this effect is stronger when the inheritance is unexpected and thus more likely to represent an exogenous shock to wealth.

Keywords: Retirement, inheritance, labor supply, wealth, wealth effect, bequest

JEL Classification: J14, J26

Suggested Citation

Brown, Jeffrey R. and Coile, Courtney and Weisbenner, Scott J., The Effect of Inheritance Receipt on Retirement (July 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=915818 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.915818

Jeffrey R. Brown (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Finance ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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University of Illinois College of Law ( email )

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) ( email )

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Economics ( email )

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Courtney Coile

Wellesley College ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Scott J. Weisbenner

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Finance ( email )

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