2007/07/01 by Jonathan Skinner · 1 citation
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis #Global Health Care Issues #Retirement, Disability, and Employment
paper · doi:10.1257/jep.21.3.59
openalex publication_date 2007/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Many view the soon-to-retire Baby Boomers as woefully unprepared for their golden years, while other economists have taken a more sanguine view of American levels of saving. And if Americans are failures at saving enough for retirement, why are some retirees so happy? The seemingly simple question of “Am I saving enough for retirement?” is apparently not so simple at all. Instead, it touches on a variety of deeper issues in economics, psychology, and health policy. I use the program ESPlanner to present life-cycle retirement wealth targets for a range of incomes and situations typical of American Economic Association members. (Readers are warned that life-cycle retirement wealth targets presented in this paper may lead to feelings of financial inadequacy.)