TY  - JOUR
AU  - McArdle,John J.
AU  - Smith,James P.
AU  - Willis,Robert
TI  - Cognition and Economic Outcomes in the Health and Retirement Survey
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15266
PY  - 2009
Y2  - August 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15266
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15266.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
John McArdle
USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
3551 Trousdale Pkwy.
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4012
E-Mail: mcardlej@verizon.net

James P. Smith
RAND Corporation
1776 Main Street
P.O. Box 2138
Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138
Tel: 310-451-6925
E-Mail: smith@rand.org

Robert J. Willis
3254 ISR
University of Michigan
P. O. Box 1248
426 Thompson Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Tel: 734/936-0314
E-Mail: rjwillis@isr.umich.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 2010-01-01
M3  - presented at "Boulders - Conference on Aging 09", May 7-10, 2009
AB  - Dimensions of cognitive skills are potentially important but often neglected determinants of the central economic outcomes that shape overall well-being over the life course. There exists enormous variation among households in their rates of wealth accumulation, their holdings of financial assets, and the relative risk in their chosen asset portfolios that have proven difficult to explain by conventional demographic factors, the amount of bequests they receive or anticipating giving, and the level of economic resources of the household. These may be cognitively demanding decisions at any age but especially so at older ages. This research examines the association of cognitive skills with wealth, wealth growth, and wealth composition for people in their pre and post-retirement years.
ER  -