Social Security investment accounts

Newly available 401 (k) participant investment data may have implications for individual Social Security account (IA) proposals. We found that women with wages between 25, 000 and 50, 000 have a significantly greater probability of investing a small percentage of their 401 (k) in equities than their male counterparts, but those with salaries over 75, 000 have a smaller probability. Hence, women’s less aggressive investment behavior may be primarily due to younger cohorts and may not apply above a threshold wage. However, overall, 28. 4% of men and 33. 8% of women are conservative investors, suggesting the possible risk low IA accumulations under some proposals. © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.