Is a Bird in Hand Worth More than a Bird in the Bush? Intergenerational Transfers and Savings Behavior

Abstract

This paper provides new evidence on the decomposition of aggregate household wealth into life-cycle and transfer wealth.Using the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances, it finds that transfer wealth accounts for approximately one-fifth to one-quarter of aggregate wealth, suggesting a larger role for life-cycle savings than some previous estimates.Despite the smaller aggregate size of transfer wealth, its concentration among a small number of households suggests that it can still have an important effect on the savings decisions of recipients.Estimates suggest that past receipts of transfer wealth reduce life-cycle savings by as much as dollar-for-dollar, while expected future transfers do not produce such a crowd-out effect.

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