What Determines End-of-Life Assets? A Retrospective View

36 Pages Posted: 4 Nov 2015

See all articles by James M. Poterba

James M. Poterba

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Steven F. Venti

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

David A. Wise

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

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Date Written: November 3, 2015

Abstract

We consider assets when individuals were last observed prior to death in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and trace assets backwards to the age when these individuals were first observed. For most individuals, assets in the last year observed (LYO) were very similar to assets in the first year observed (FYO). In particular, most of those who were last observed with very low asset levels also had low assets when first observed. We also estimate the relationship between an individual’s asset change between the first and last date of observation, that individual’s education and health status when first observed, and that individual’s within-sample changes in health and family composition. We obtain estimates for HRS respondents who were 51 to 61 in 1992 and for AHEAD respondents who were age 70 and over in 1993.

Keywords: Health, Health Policy, Health Economics, Assets

Suggested Citation

Poterba, James M. and Poterba, James M. and Venti, Steven F. and Wise, David A., What Determines End-of-Life Assets? A Retrospective View (November 3, 2015). HKS Working Paper No. 067, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2685749 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2685749

James M. Poterba

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics ( email )

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Steven F. Venti

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics ( email )

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David A. Wise (Contact Author)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

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