Pathways to Retirement through Self-Employment / Shanthi Ramnath, John B. Shoven, Sita Nataraj Slavov.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ramnath, Shanthi.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Shoven, John B.

Slavov, Sita Nataraj.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w23551.

NBER working paper series no. w23551

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2017.

Summary:

We examine the role of self-employment in retirement transitions using a panel of administrative tax data. We find that the hazard of self-employment increases at popular retirement ages associated with Social Security eligibility, particularly for those with greater retirement wealth. Late-career transitions to self-employment are associated with a larger drop in income than similar mid-career transitions. Data from the Health and Retirement Study suggest that hours worked also fall upon switching to self-employment. These results suggest that self-employment at older ages may serve as a "bridge job," allowing workers to gradually reduce hours and earnings along the pathway to retirement.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2017.