Elin Halvorsen - Pensions and wealth inequality

• Presenting author: Elin Halvorsen (Statistics Norway)

• Authors: Elin Halvorsen

• Session: C03A - Dynamic / Long term [4] - Wednesday 14:00-15:30 - Ceremonial Hall

The concept of pension wealth has been extensively used by economists in theoretical and applied research since Feldstein’s seminal paper (1974), but in recent decades, due to population ageing, it has attracted the attention from a wider scientific community and from policy makers. Pension wealth constitutes a significant proportion of total household wealth but few countries have a comprehensive measure of pension wealth at the individual level. This study present new and unique individual pension wealth data covering the whole Norwegian population. Wealth data has been collected that covers all three pillars; public pension scheme, occupational pensions (both public and private) and personal pension saving. For members of defined contribution (DC) plans the accrued value is used, but for defined benefit plans (DB) a micro-simulation model is used. With this model the present value of accrued-to-date pension wealth can be calculated under realistic and detailed assumptions about retirement age and individual expected longevity (based on socio-demographic characteristics). The data is used to analyze the distribution of individual pension wealth data, how it relates to the distribution of other personal wealth, and how it is affected by choices made in the present value calculations.