Tag: inheritance expectations

Working together on their budget

Abstract The goal of this paper is to carefully document the characteristics of within-family monetary transfers in the United States, using all nine waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The main purpose of doing so is to summarize the relevant moments that can be used as calibration targets by macro studies. As of…

Senior woman doing finances at home

Abstract Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we compare actual inheritances received during the period 1994 to 2004 with the amounts that, in 1994, households anticipated receiving within 10 years.  We find little evidence of systematic forecasting errors.  The factors affecting inheritance receipt also affect expectation formation. Although the distribution is highly skewed,…