Retirement Security and Financial Decision Making

Financial planning for retirement in the United States has never been more important. Americans now have greater control on how much to accumulate during their working years, and how much to deaccumulate during their retirement. With greater control also comes great responsibility for the individual. As this individual-level responsibility has increased so has the relevance of making the right claiming decision about Social Security, which for many will be the only source of life-time income protected against inflation. Longer life spans, and especially longer post-retirement life spans, have also raised long-term care costs for households, further requiring careful financial planning for retirement.