Retirement Savings

Abstract

The topic of retirement savings can be considered from a prescriptive (normative) approach, for which the primary question is how much should a household accumulate for retirement. The topic can also be considered from a descriptive (positive) approach, for which the most important question is whether households are saving enough for retirement. Using both approaches, we review concepts and literature related to retirement savings, and address related salient issues in this chapter. We conclude with a discussion of whether households in the USA are saving enough for retirement, and give recommendations for researchers. This chapter proceeds as follows: The first section describes the prescriptive approach for retirement adequacy. The second section describes important sources of retirement income. The third section discusses empirical studies of retirement adequacy. The final section provides a summary and recommendations.