Working Paper
Workers' knowledge of their pension coverage: a reevaluation
Starr-McCluer, Martha; Sunden, Annika E. (1999)
Because employer-provided pensions represent an important source of income during retirement, accurate information on pension coverage would seem to be crucial for making sound decisions on retirement timing, saving, and portfolio allocation. However, previous research suggests that workers' knowledge of their pension provisions is often incomplete or incorrect. This paper reexamines workers' knowledge of their pension coverage, using matched employer-employee data from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances. We find that, while most workers in our sample accurately reported ...
Finance and Economics Discussion Series , Paper 1999-05

Journal Article
Family Finance in the U.S.: Recent Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
Starr-McCluer, Martha; Kennickell, Arthur B.; Sunden, Annika E. (1997-01)
Using data that have just become available from the 1995 Survey of Consumer Finances along with data from the 1989 and 1992 versions of the survey, this article provides a detailed picture of recent changes in the income, net worth, assets, and liabilities of U.S. families. It also presents information on families' saving, unrealized capital gains, debt payments, and institutional providers of credit. Of the developments the article reports, a few are particularly noteworthy. First, between the 1992 and 1995 surveys, both median family income and median family net worth rose in constant ...
Federal Reserve Bulletin , Volume 83 , Issue 1 , Pages pp. 1-24

Journal Article
Family finances in the U.S.: recent evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
Starr-McCluer, Martha; Kennickell, Arthur B.; Sunden, Annika E. (1997-01)
Using data that have just become available from the 1995 Survey of Consumer Finances along with data from the 1989 and 1992 versions of the survey, this article provides a detailed picture of recent changes in the income, net worth, assets, and liabilities of U.S. families. It also presents information on families' saving, unrealized capital gains, debt payments, and institutional providers of credit. Of the developments the article reports, a few are particularly noteworthy. First, between the 1992 and 1995 surveys, both median family income and median family net worth rose in constant ...
Federal Reserve Bulletin , Issue Jan

Working Paper
Pensions, social security, and the distribution of wealth
Sunden, Annika E.; Kennickell, Arthur B. (1997)
This paper uses the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to examine pension coverage, estimate Social Security and pension wealth for U.S. households in 1989 and 1992, and estimate the effects of pension wealth on non-pension net worth. As expected, the SCF data show that including pensions and Social Security in net worth makes the distribution more even. The analysis of the effects of pension wealth on other types of savings indicates that there is a negative effect of defined benefit plan coverage on non-pension net worth. Surprisingly, the effect of defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) ...
Finance and Economics Discussion Series , Paper 1997-55

Working Paper
Saving and financial planning: some findings from a focus group
Starr-McCluer, Martha; Kennickell, Arthur B.; Sunden, Annika E. (1996)
This paper summarizes the results of a focus group on saving and financial planning. The group consisted of eight individuals with relatively high income and wealth. The savings behavior of such people is of interest partly due to their large contribution to total personal saving. The participants expressed concerns about how their circumstances will change as they age, and about uncertainties in income and health. While these concerns are consistent with theories emphasizing life-cycle and precautionary motives, the idea that saving involves self-control was also mentioned repeatedly.
Finance and Economics Discussion Series , Paper 96-1