Essays on life-cycle portfolio choice with endogenous retirement

We examine two theoretical models of life-cycle saving and portfolio choice with the main feature that the agent endogenously determines his retirement date. Using a set of testable conclusions from the theoretical work, we then attempt to validate the models with U.S. life-cycle asset holding data. The first essay introduces the life-cycle endogenous retirement problem to an investor with realistically-calibrated labor income and incomplete markets. The second essay extends the first model to allow for both taxable and tax-deferred investing. This model captures the interactions between the retirement decision and the ability to invest in tax-deferred retirement accounts with pre-tax income. The third essay presents summary statistics from the Survey of Consumer Finances and contains the econometric work.