Retirement expectations, preferences, and decisions

A recent report of the Dutch Authority of Financial Markets (AFM) claims that many Dutch residents have overly optimistic expectations concerning their pension income, and will be disappointed when they actually retire. Many economic models assume rational expectations, which make it possible to derive expectations ex post from observed outcomes. Luc Bisonette and Arthur van Soest (both UvT) survey in this Panel Paper the literature on expectations related to retirement and income and well-being at an older age. They focus on how expectations are formed and whether or not they are in line with rational expectations.