Valuing Assets in Retirement Saving Accounts

Many studies compare household balances in tax-deferred retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans with financial assets held outside these accounts, but these different asset components are not directly comparable. Taxes and in some cases penalties are due when assets are withdrawn from some retirement saving plans. These factors imply that a dollar held inside a retirement account may be less valuable in supporting retirement income than a dollar held in a similar asset outside these accounts. This is particularly important for households that are considering withdrawing assets from the tax-deferred accounts in the near future. For households with long deferral horizons, the opportunity for tax-free compound returns in retirement accounts can permit a dollar inside such an account to support more retirement consumption than a dollar outside such accounts, even though the account principal will be taxed on distribution. This paper illustrates the potential differences in the retirement support value of a dollar of invested in a bond, or in corporate stock, inside and outside tax-deferred accounts. It draws on a range of data sources to calibrate the value of the tax burden, and the benefit of compound growth, for assets held in retirement accounts, and describes the differences in relative valuation for households of different ages.

Taxation and Corporate Payout Policy

This paper presents new evidence on how corporate payout policy responds to the differential between the tax burden on dividend income and that on accruing capital gains. It describes the construction of weighted average marginal tax rate series for the period since 1929, and it suggests that the enactment of the Job Growth of Taxpayer Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 should raise the after-tax value of dividends relative to capital gains by more than five percentage points. The impact of this change on payout depends on the elasticity of dividend payments with respect to the after-tax value of dividend income relative to capital gains. Time series estimates suggest an elasticity of more than three, and imply that the recent tax reform could ultimately increase dividends by almost twenty percent.

The Challenge of Tax Reform and Expanding the Tax Base

This is the text of the 2009 Geary Lecture, delivered at the Economic and Social Research Institute in honour of Roy Geary.

Tax Policy and Corporate Saving

macroeconomics,corporate saving, tax policy