We investigate how the genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD) relates to saving behavior. Using nationally representative data from the 1996-2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we find that genetic predisposition for AD correlates with, but is not causally related to how older individuals' hold wealth in different asset types. People with a higher AD polygenic risk score (PGS) hold roughly 20 per cent less wealth in IRAs and contribute about 24 percent less to IRAs between survey periods. We hypothesize that people with a high risk of AD choose different portfolios: (i) because they know their genetic risk of developing AD from parental history, (ii) because they have the lower cognitive capacity, and (iii) because they indirectly learn about their genetic predisposition for AD as they age. Our extended model results show that the first two hypotheses do not account for the observed correlation. Consistent with the third hypothesis, the interaction between age and the AD PGS accounts for the correlation between genetic traits and asset holdings. Our findings have far-reaching implications for researchers using genetic data: when indirect learning about own predispositions is possible, correlations between genes and choices must be interpreted with caution.

中文翻译：

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了解阿尔茨海默病多基因风险、财富和财富持有构成之间的相关性。

我们调查发生阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 的遗传风险如何与储蓄行为相关。使用来自 1996-2014 年健康与退休研究 (HRS) 的全国代表性数据，我们发现 AD 的遗传倾向与老年人在不同资产类型中持有财富的方式相关，但没有因果关系。AD 多基因风险评分 (PGS) 较高的人在 IRA 中持有的财富减少约 20%，在调查期间对 IRA 的贡献减少约 24%。我们假设 AD 高风险人群选择不同的投资组合：(i) 因为他们从父母的历史中知道他们患 AD 的遗传风险，(ii) 因为他们的认知能力较低，以及 (iii) 因为他们间接了解随着年龄的增长，他们对 AD 的遗传易感性。我们的扩展模型结果表明，前两个假设没有解释观察到的相关性。与第三个假设一致，年龄和 AD PGS 之间的相互作用解释了遗传特征和资产持有之间的相关性。我们的发现对使用遗传数据的研究人员具有深远的影响：当可以间接了解自己的倾向时，必须谨慎解释基因与选择之间的相关性。