Reducing Retirement Inequality: Building Wealth and Old-Age Resilience

by Olivia S. Mitchell (Editor), Nikolai Roussanov (Editor)

Overview

Many older Americans today are poorly prepared to finance their retirement years, and such under-preparedness is especially acute for members of disadvantaged racial and ethnic minority groups. Black and Hispanic families, for example, have only a quarter of the amount of net private wealth (assets minus liabilities) compared to White families. Moreover, racial wealth gaps have not diminished much in the past four decades, in part because Whites tend to save more in and withdraw less from employer-sponsored retirement plans than do their Black and Hispanic counterparts.

The studies herein provide a range of perspectives on the causes and consequences of retirement wealth inequality, along with suggested opportunities to close the gaps. The contributors explore new datasets, analyze historical trends in income and wealth disparities, and evaluate alternative wealth and inequality measures. They also evaluate the roles of differential access to financial, housing, and human capital, and the role of the social security program. While the latter is a great equalizer, narrowing racial gaps considerably, the program faces insolvency and, without reform, it will be unable to pay full scheduled benefits within a decade.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198939030
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/20/2025
Series:	Pension Research Council Series
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.45(h) x 1.02(d)

About the Author

Olivia S. Mitchell is the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Nikolai Roussanov is Moise Y. Safra Professor and Professor of Finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Olivia S. Mitchell is the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor, Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, and Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research, all at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Concurrently she is a Research Associate at the NBER and Independent Director of the Allspring Mutual Fund Boards. She is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association. Her research focuses on pensions, risk management, financial literacy, household finance, and public finance.


Nikolai Roussanov is Moise Y. Safra Professor and Professor of Finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research explores asset pricing, macroeconomics, currency and commodity markets, entrepreneurship, and individual financial behaviour. At Wharton he has taught courses on Behavioural Finance, Fixed Income Securities, and Consumer Financial Decision Making to undergraduate and MBA students, as well as Empirical Methods in Finance aimed at students in the doctoral program.

Table of Contents

1. Diversity, Inclusion, and Inequality in Retirement Wellbeing: An Overview, Olivia S. Mitchell and Nikolai RoussanovI. Retirement Wealth Inequality2. Retirement Assets and the Wealth Gaps for Black and Hispanic Households, Gustavo Suarez, Jeffrey Thompson, and Alice Henriques Volz3. Changes in Racial Gaps in Retirement Security over Time, Karen Dynan and Douglas Elmendorf4. Understanding Trends in Hispanic and African American Retirement Preparedness in the US, Edward N. Wolff5. Wills, Wealth, and Race, Jean-Pierre Aubry, Alicia H. Munnell, and Gal WettsteinI. The Roles of Housing, Expectations, and Social Security6. The Racial Wealth Gap and the Legacy of Racially Restrictive Housing Covenants, Larry Santucci7. Racial and Ethnic Differences in Longevity Perceptions and Implications for Financial Decision-Making, Abigail Hurwitz, Olivia S. Mitchell, and Orly Sade8. Social Security and the Racial Wealth Gap, Sylvain Catherine and Natasha SarinII. Differential Access to Financial and Human Capital Markets9. Financial Inclusion and Retirement Preparedness in the United States, Vicki L. Bogan10. How Racial Differences in Housing Returns Shape Retirement Security, Amir Kermani and Francis Wong11. Racial Differences in Debt Delinquencies and Implications for Retirement Preparedness, Mingli Zhong and Jennifer Andre12. Understanding Financial Vulnerability among Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics in the United States, Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell, Alessia Sconti, and Andrea StichaIII. Narrowing the Gaps13. Tax Policy to Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality, Carl Davis and Brakeyshia Samms14. Improving the Financial Security of Workers of Color through Employee Financial Wellness Programs, John J. Kalamarides15. Enhancing Retirement Wealth and Reducing Retiree Inequality: Emergency Savings 460 Accounts and Other Policy Options, David C. John, J. Mark Iwry, and William G. Gale16. Would Baby Bonds Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality?, Naomi Zewde