What matters for annuity demand: objective life expectancy or subjective survival pessimism?

What matters for annuity demand: objective life expectancy or subjective survival pessimism?

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
CRR WP
Author(s):
Arapakis, Karolos, author
Wettstein, Gal, author
Contributor(s):
Boston College. Center for Retirement Research, issuing body.
Publication:
Chestnut Hill, MA : Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, January 2023
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Decision Making
Life Expectancy
Pessimism
Retirement -- economics
Survival
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Objective life expectancy and subjective survival pessimism (defined as the difference between objective and subjective life expectancy) may both affect the demand for annuities. The question this project answers is: how do these two explanations contribute to annuitization decisions in practice? To explore this question, the analysis estimates regression models that include objective life expectancy, subjective survival pessimism, and other characteristics that are linked to annuitization decisions. The results show that, as one would expect, individuals with higher objective life expectancy are more likely to buy an annuity. Similarly, less pessimistic individuals are also more likely to buy an annuity. A one-year rise in objective life expectancy increases the probability of buying an annuity product by 0.20 percentage points, which is nearly nine times larger than a one-year decline in pessimism.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (28 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918697335706676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918697335706676