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Papers by Jorge Ramos-Mercado

Research paper thumbnail of How job options narrow for older workers by socioeconomic status

Research Papers in Economics, Aug 1, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of How Does Occupational Access for Older Workers Differ by Education?

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and dec... more is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and decision-makers in the public and private sectors around an issue of critical importance to the nation's future. To achieve this mission, the Center sponsors a wide variety of research projects, transmits new findings to a broad audience, trains new scholars, and broadens access to valuable data sources.

Research paper thumbnail of Are Americans of All Ages and Income Levels Shortsighted About Their Finances

Issues in Brief, 2015

Americans today are increasingly responsible for saving a substantial portion of their income for... more Americans today are increasingly responsible for saving a substantial portion of their income for retirement. A recent study, however, found that workers are primarily concerned about their ability to satisfy day-to-day needs, not future needs, even if they have their day-to-day finances under control or are financially literate. This brief asks whether this finding also applies at all ages and income levels. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section introduces the data and methodology. The second section explores whether the financial assessments of young, middle-age, and older workers primarily reflect the household’s ability to meet day-to-day as opposed to distant financial needs. The second section explores the same issue for workers by income. The final section concludes that Americans at all ages and income levels are shortsighted about their finances and on their own cannot be expected to devote much effort to addressing distant financial problems. Given the sign...

Research paper thumbnail of Calculating Expected Social Security Benefits by Race, Education and Claiming Age

The option to claim Social Security before the full retirement age (FRA) has been around for over... more The option to claim Social Security before the full retirement age (FRA) has been around for over 50 years. But claiming benefits early has an inherent trade-off: more years of income are received in exchange for an actuarially reduced monthly benefit. The actuarial reduction is designed to be “fair” for the average worker in that, regardless of the age at which a person claims, he can expect to receive the same expected present value (EPV) of his lifetime benefits. Aside from a period of high interest rates in the 1980s, this equality has roughly held for the average worker since the inception of the actuarial reduction. But the key word here is average. Workers who live less long than the average might maximize the EPV of benefits by claiming early, while those who live longer than average might benefit more from delay. This paper analyzes this issue by calculating the EPV of Social Security benefits by race, education, and gender, all three of which are correlates of both mortali...

Research paper thumbnail of Dog Bites Man: Americans Are Shortsighted About Their Finances

Issues in Brief, 2015

The brief’s key findings are: *Americans need to save more on their own for retirement, but human... more The brief’s key findings are: *Americans need to save more on their own for retirement, but human nature suggests they will focus more on day-to-day financial needs. *Analysis of a recent survey confirms that a household’s level of financial satisfaction is tied more to short-term – rather than long-term – concerns. *Even households that are in reasonable shape in the short term do not seem to focus more on distant concerns like retirement saving. *And households that are more financially literate appear only modestly more attuned to long-term financial issues.

Research paper thumbnail of How Job Options Narrow for Older Workers by Socioeconomic Status

The ability of older job-changers to find “suitable” employment affects both their current income... more The ability of older job-changers to find “suitable” employment affects both their current income and their ability to work long enough to secure an adequate retirement income. One measure of suitable employment is the range of occupations available to them. This brief, based on a recent study, assesses the extent to which occupational options narrow for workers as they age from their early-fifties to their mid-sixties and whether the pattern varies by gender or socioeconomic status, as measured by education level. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section reviews the previous literature. The second section discusses the data and methodology. The third section presents findings on the narrowing of job options and the associated change in wages. The fourth section reviews changes in older workers’ access to occupations since the mid-1990s, including differences by gender and education. The final section concludes that job options decline with age, but the outlook is gener...

Research paper thumbnail of What Do Subjective Assessments of Financial Well-Being Reflect?

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and dec... more is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and decision-makers in the public and private sectors around an issue of critical importance to the nation's future. To achieve this mission, the Center sponsors a wide variety of research projects, transmits new findings to a broad audience, trains new scholars, and broadens access to valuable data sources.

Research paper thumbnail of How job options narrow for older workers by socioeconomic status

Research Papers in Economics, Aug 1, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of How Does Occupational Access for Older Workers Differ by Education?

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and dec... more is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and decision-makers in the public and private sectors around an issue of critical importance to the nation's future. To achieve this mission, the Center sponsors a wide variety of research projects, transmits new findings to a broad audience, trains new scholars, and broadens access to valuable data sources.

Research paper thumbnail of Are Americans of All Ages and Income Levels Shortsighted About Their Finances

Issues in Brief, 2015

Americans today are increasingly responsible for saving a substantial portion of their income for... more Americans today are increasingly responsible for saving a substantial portion of their income for retirement. A recent study, however, found that workers are primarily concerned about their ability to satisfy day-to-day needs, not future needs, even if they have their day-to-day finances under control or are financially literate. This brief asks whether this finding also applies at all ages and income levels. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section introduces the data and methodology. The second section explores whether the financial assessments of young, middle-age, and older workers primarily reflect the household’s ability to meet day-to-day as opposed to distant financial needs. The second section explores the same issue for workers by income. The final section concludes that Americans at all ages and income levels are shortsighted about their finances and on their own cannot be expected to devote much effort to addressing distant financial problems. Given the sign...

Research paper thumbnail of Calculating Expected Social Security Benefits by Race, Education and Claiming Age

The option to claim Social Security before the full retirement age (FRA) has been around for over... more The option to claim Social Security before the full retirement age (FRA) has been around for over 50 years. But claiming benefits early has an inherent trade-off: more years of income are received in exchange for an actuarially reduced monthly benefit. The actuarial reduction is designed to be “fair” for the average worker in that, regardless of the age at which a person claims, he can expect to receive the same expected present value (EPV) of his lifetime benefits. Aside from a period of high interest rates in the 1980s, this equality has roughly held for the average worker since the inception of the actuarial reduction. But the key word here is average. Workers who live less long than the average might maximize the EPV of benefits by claiming early, while those who live longer than average might benefit more from delay. This paper analyzes this issue by calculating the EPV of Social Security benefits by race, education, and gender, all three of which are correlates of both mortali...

Research paper thumbnail of Dog Bites Man: Americans Are Shortsighted About Their Finances

Issues in Brief, 2015

The brief’s key findings are: *Americans need to save more on their own for retirement, but human... more The brief’s key findings are: *Americans need to save more on their own for retirement, but human nature suggests they will focus more on day-to-day financial needs. *Analysis of a recent survey confirms that a household’s level of financial satisfaction is tied more to short-term – rather than long-term – concerns. *Even households that are in reasonable shape in the short term do not seem to focus more on distant concerns like retirement saving. *And households that are more financially literate appear only modestly more attuned to long-term financial issues.

Research paper thumbnail of How Job Options Narrow for Older Workers by Socioeconomic Status

The ability of older job-changers to find “suitable” employment affects both their current income... more The ability of older job-changers to find “suitable” employment affects both their current income and their ability to work long enough to secure an adequate retirement income. One measure of suitable employment is the range of occupations available to them. This brief, based on a recent study, assesses the extent to which occupational options narrow for workers as they age from their early-fifties to their mid-sixties and whether the pattern varies by gender or socioeconomic status, as measured by education level. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section reviews the previous literature. The second section discusses the data and methodology. The third section presents findings on the narrowing of job options and the associated change in wages. The fourth section reviews changes in older workers’ access to occupations since the mid-1990s, including differences by gender and education. The final section concludes that job options decline with age, but the outlook is gener...

Research paper thumbnail of What Do Subjective Assessments of Financial Well-Being Reflect?

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and dec... more is to produce first-class research and forge a strong link between the academic community and decision-makers in the public and private sectors around an issue of critical importance to the nation's future. To achieve this mission, the Center sponsors a wide variety of research projects, transmits new findings to a broad audience, trains new scholars, and broadens access to valuable data sources.