Using Health and Retirement Study data linked to summary plan descriptions and W-2s, this study reports trends in retirement wealth inequality of older employees 1992–2010. The study identifies and corrects methodological flaws in past research. Retirement wealth is highly unequally distributed; the top lifetime earnings quintile holds half of all retirement wealth, the bottom quintile, only 1%. The top earnings quintile fared better in 2010 than in 1992, whereas bottom-quintile earners fared worse. But retirement wealth inequality mainly reflects inequality within earnings quintiles, resulting from inadequate savings, not outsize accumulations. Systemic flaws reduce median retirement wealth by 84%

本研究使用链接到摘要计划说明和W-2的健康与退休研究数据，报告了1992-2010年老年雇员的退休财富不平等趋势。该研究发现并纠正了过去研究中的方法缺陷。退休财富分配不均；收入最高的五分之一人口拥有全部退休财富的一半，收入最低的五分之一人口仅占1％。2010年收入最高的五分之一群体的收入要好于1992年，而收入最低的五分之一收入群体的收入要差。但是退休财富的不平等主要反映了收入五分位数之内的不平等，这是由储蓄不足而不是超额积累引起的。系统性缺陷使退休财富中位数减少了84％