Retirement Saving Adequacy and Individual Investment Risk Management Using the Asset/Salary Ratio

This chapter uses the Asset-Salary Ratio (ASR) to examine the factors that increase the likelihood that defined contribution plan participants will have sufficient assets to generate adequate retirement income, similar to the defined benefit plan full-funding ratio. We apply this measure to a sample of TIAA-CREF participants, and we show that participant assets are on average consistent with at least a 70 percent income replacement ratio. Key factors explaining success are an adequate contribution rate and long tenure in the system; having a portfolio weighted to equities is beneficial but to a lesser extent. Thus good funding and early participation is more important than ‘chasing returns.’ Measures such as the ASR can help participants make more informed choices.