Tag: longevity risk

Finance, documents and senior couple on sofa with bills, paperwork and insurance checklist in home, life or asset management, Elderly black people on couch with financial, retirement or mortgage debt

Although many economic models predict high annuitization rates, only a small portion of retirees hold an annuity.  This discrepancy is known as the “annuity puzzle.”  Many explanations have been advanced for this puzzle, all of them promoting reasons why individuals might not want to annuitize. This brief, which is based on a recent paper, analyzes…

Coin stack with growing leaves and alarm clock on wooden desk on green tree background, time for saving concept

The gap between the desire for annuities and actual holdings likely due to logistical impediments. My colleagues, Karolos Arapakis and Gal Wettstein, have just published a really interesting paper on the “annuity puzzle.”  That is, while economic models predict that many people would be better off with annuities, only a small portion of retirees actually…