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Household Life-Cycle Effects on Consumer Wealth and Well-Being for the Recently Retired

Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina

Ronald P. Wilder

Department of Economics, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina

The present research tests a series of predicted relationships regarding the e fects of household life-cycle variables, as well as other important consumer characteristics, on both wealth and perceived well-being among retired households. Toward that objective, separate samples of retired married households (n = 1,938) and retired single-person households (n = 855) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) of the University of Michigan were analyzed in an investigation of the e fects of household marital and parenthood characteristics on both accumulated wealth and perceived well-being. After controlling for education, race, gender, and health e fects, the results demonstrate significant life-cycle e fects of marital status and number of children on consumer wealth. In addition, wealth at retirement age is found to be a significant predictor of overall well-being. The implications of these findings, as well as a series of suggestions for future research regarding the study of important changes in life-cycle circumstances, are discussed.

Key Words: household life-cycle effects • consumer saving and retirement • household wealth and well-being • quality-of-life

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