TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lusardi, Annamaria
AU  - Mitchell, Olivia S
AU  - Oggero, Noemi
TI  - Debt and Financial Vulnerability on the Verge of Retirement
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 23664
PY  - 2017
Y2  - August 2017
DO  - 10.3386/w23664
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w23664
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w23664.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Annamaria Lusardi
The George Washington University
School of Business
2201 G Street, NW
Duques Hall, Suite 450E
Washington, DC 20052
Tel: 202-994-8410
E-Mail: alusardi@gwu.edu

Olivia S. Mitchell
University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School
3620 Locust Walk, St 3000 SH-DH
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6302
Tel: 215-898-0424
Fax: 215/898-0310
E-Mail: mitchelo@wharton.upenn.edu

Noemi Oggero
University of Turin
Corso Unione Sovietica 218 bis
10134 Torino
Italy
E-Mail: noemi.oggero@unito.it
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 2018-10-16
AB  - We analyze older individuals’ debt and financial vulnerability using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). Specifically, in the HRS we examine three different cohorts (individuals age 56–61) in 1992, 2004, and 2010 to evaluate cross-cohort changes in debt over time. We also use two waves of the NFCS (2012 and 2015) to gain additional insights into debt management and older individuals’ capacity to shield themselves against shocks. We show that recent cohorts have taken on more debt and face more financial insecurity, mostly due to having purchased more expensive homes with smaller down payments.
ER  -