Managing Retirement Incomes

In this article we discuss the state of the literature relating to the decumulation of retirement wealth and the management of retirement incomes. On the one hand, life-cycle models that allow for strong bequest motives and for the effects of medical expense risks have been shown to be able to rationalize retirees’ wealth, income, and consumption trajectories. On the other, studies of individual asset choices and portfolio decisions seem to suggest low levels of financial literacy and engagement as well as non-negligible consequences of age-related cognitive decline on financial decision making. We argue that future work should try to reconcile these two sets of conflicting findings into a coherent and holistic evidence base to inform policy, because issues concerning the management of retirement incomes, and insurance against different risks in retirement more generally, will become increasingly important for future cohorts of retirees.