Despite the recent downturn in the stock market, the 1990s boom and the shift to defined contribution plans mean that more individuals will have significant wealth upon retirement. How they use that wealth will determine not only their own well-being, but also the living standards of their children, the resources available to philanthropies, and the level of investment capital in the economy. This volume explores the reasons why people save, how they decide to allocate their wealth once they retire, and how givers select their beneficiaries. It also assesses the extent to which the estate tax and annuitization of retirement wealth affects the amount and nature of wealth transfers. Finally, it looks at the impact of wealth transfers––first on the amount of aggregate saving and capital accumulation, and then on the distribution of wealth among households. Several conclusions emerge. First, gifts and bequests are important; they may account for about half of total wealth in America. Second, rich people make most of the wealth transfers. They are thoughtful about how much they pay in taxes and how they dispose of their wealth. They care about philanthropic causes and view their charitable contributions as more than a way to avoid paying estate taxes. Third, most nonrich people probably have some lexicographic preferences about the disposition of their wealth; they want to ensure they have adequate resources to take care of their own needs, and if money is left over, they would like it to go to their children. Fourth, little support has emerged for the pure altruistic model of bequests. Fifth, institutions matter. In the case of the rich, the estate tax probably reduces saving and increases bequests to charity. In the case of the nonrich, the shift to defined contribution plans will at a minimum mean that they have more wealth in their hands when they die, and therefore they will leave larger accidental bequests. It might also increase their interest in lea

Experience in private pension plans and recent policy discussions about investment-based reforms of Social Security suggest that some form of bequest is likely to be part of any such reform that is enacted. This paper provides a first examination of the potential magnitudes of such bequests and of their effect on retirement annuities and asset accumulation. The most likely form of bequest, the preretirement bequest' made when employees die before normal retirement age, reduces the funds available for post-retirement annuities by about 16 percent or, equivalently, requires a one-sixth increase in the Personal Retirement Account saving rate to maintain the same level of post-retirement annuities. We also analyze a variety of post-retirement bequest options. The least costly option that we consider is adding a ten-year-certain' feature to the life annuity, thereby providing a bequest whenever the retiree dies before age 77. This would reduce annuities, relative to providing only preretirement bequests, by about 6 percent. The most costly option that we consider would provide a bequest equal to the remaining actuarial value of the PRA annuity at the time of death and would require reducing all annuities by about 23 percent unless the PRA saving rate is raised. We analyze the size distribution of bequests that would result under different bequest rules and consider the implications for aggregate capital accumulation.

This volume explores the reasons people save money, how they decide to allocate their wealth once they retire, and how givers select their beneficiaries. It also assesses the extent to which the estate tax and annuitization of retirement wealth affects the amount and nature of wealth transfers. Finally, it looks at the impact of bequests on the economy.The first section summarizes existing knowledge and puts the current U.S. experience in perspective by offering first a historical view and then an international view. The second explores the reasons for wealth transfers and how givers select their beneficiaries. The contributors consider whether bequests are left by accident or on purpose, how people decide between philanthropic organizations and family, and who gets the bequest within a family. In the third section, the discussion shifts from the inner workings of the household to external factors that affect bequests—namely, taxes and benefits. The final section looks at the impact of wealth transfers on the amount of aggregate saving and capital accumulation and on the distribution of wealth among households.The contributors conclude that wealth transfers are big and important. Understanding how people make their consumption, saving, and bequest decisions is crucial for predicting how people will respond to major changes, such as the plan to phase out the estate tax.Contributors include Andrew Abel (Wharton School), James Andreoni (University of Wisconsin), Theodore Bergstrom (University of California), Jeffrey R. Brown (John F. Kennedy School of Government, National Bureau of Economic Research), Charles Clotfelter (Duke University), Donald Cox (Boston College), J. Bradford DeLong (University of California), Peter Diamond (MIT), Amy Finkelstein (National Bureau of Economic Research), William Gale (Brookings Institution), Jonathan Gruber (MIT), John J. Havens (Social Welfare Research Institute, Boston College), Michael D. Hurd (RAND), Wojciech Kopczuk (University of British Columbia), Laurence J. Kotlikoff (Boston University), John Laitner (University of Michigan), Ray D. Madoff (Boston College Law School), Kathleen McGarry (University of California, National Bureau of Economic Research), Olivia S. Mitchell (Wharton School), Alicia H. Munnell (Center for Retirement Research, Boston College), Peter Orszag (Brookings Institution), Pierre Pestieau (University of Liège, CEPR), James Poterba (MIT), Samara Potter (Brookings Institution), Paul G. Schervish (Social Welfare Research Institute, Boston College), John Karl Scholz (University of Wisconsin), Jonathan S. Skinner (Dartmouth College, National Bureau of Economic Research), Joel Slemrod (University of Michigan), Mauricio Soto (Center for Retirement Research, Boston College), Annika Sundén (Center for Retirement Research, Boston College), Catherine Taylor (Center for Retirement Research, Boston College), and Edward N. Wolff (New York University).