Taxation and Household Financial Behavior

本项目将研究税收优惠如何影响家庭投资组合的结构。 其中一项研究将探讨递延税项和应税账户中资产配置模式的决定因素。 最近，401（k）计划的员工参与率有所上升，同时拥有个人退休账户的家庭数量也有所增加，这为许多家庭带来了新的投资组合选择。 本研究将通过比较应纳税和递延纳税环境下的资产配置决策，调查家庭在构建投资组合时考虑税收因素的程度。 它还将开发新的信息，说明当前储蓄者达到退休年龄时递延纳税账户余额的潜在分布情况。 这项研究将对正在进行的关于家庭退休储蓄是否充足的讨论产生影响，从而对金融和公共政策部门产生更广泛的影响。 第二部分研究将探讨变额年金产品最近的增长。 它将评估税收激励如何影响对这些金融产品的需求，并检验假设，即持有可变年金的最大激励的家庭购买这些产品。 这项研究还将考虑这些产品在帮助退休人员提取他们在401（k）计划和其他退休储蓄工具中积累的余额方面的潜在作用。

This project will study how tax incentives affect the structure of household portfolios. One strand of research will explore the determinants of asset allocation patterns in tax-deferred and taxable accounts. The recent growth of employee participation in 401(k) plans, and the coincident expansion in the number of households with Individual Retirement Accounts, has raised new portfolio choices for many households. This research will investigate the extent to which households consider tax factors in structuring their portfolios by comparing asset allocation decisions in taxable and tax-deferred settings. It will also develop new information on the potential distribution of balances in tax-deferred accounts when current savers reach retirement. The research will bear on the ongoing discussion concerning the adequacy of household retirement saving and thus will have broader impacts on both the financial and the public policy sectors. A second strand of research will explore the recent growth of variable annuity products. It will evaluate how tax incentives affect the demand for these financial products, and test the hypothesis that the households with the largest incentives to hold variable annuities purchase these products. This research will also consider the potential role of these products in helping retirees to draw down the balances that they accumulate in 401(k) plans and other retirement saving vehicles.