VariableDescription
FAZ Survey
Planned retirement ageAge in years when nonretired participants plan to retire (“At what age do you plan to retire?”). Nonretirees only.
Actual retirement ageAge in years when retired participants did retire (“At what age did you retire?”). Retirees only.
Full retirement ageFull retirement age according to the German social security system based on the birth year of participants.
Retirement regretIndicator that equals one if participants felt they retired too early (“If you were to retire again, would you retire earlier, later, or at the same age?”). Retirees only.
Inconsistency indicatorRefers to the time preference question as displayed in Figure 1. Indicator equals one if a participant makes at least one time-inconsistent choice in the direction of hyperbolic discounting.
Number inconsistent answersRefers to the time preference question as displayed in Figure 1. Count of the number of inconsistent choices in the direction of hyperbolic discounting (0–3).
ImpatienceAgreement on a seven-point Likert scale (1–7) with the statement “I am an impatient person.”
AgeCurrent age of participants in years.
GenderIndicator that equals one if a participant is male.
IncomeSelf-reported monthly net income. Nonretirees only.
Retirement benefitsRetirement income from social and private insurance. Retirees only.
Satisfaction with benefitsAgreement on a seven-point Likert scale (1–7) with the statement “I am satisfied with my monthly retirement benefits.
Number of childrenNumber of participant’s children.
EducationVariable that takes a value of two for a university degree or higher, a value of one for a high school degree (German Abitur), and a value of zero for a lower or no degree.
MarriedIndicator that equals one if a participant is married.
Risk aversionAgreement on a seven-point Likert scale (1–7) with the statement “I am a risk-averse person.”
Loss aversionAgreement on a seven-point Likert scale (1–7) with the statement “I am very afraid of losses.”
Financial literacyNumber of correct responses to six financial literacy questions (see Online Appendix A).
Subjective life expectancySelf-reported life expectancy in years of age.
Private pension insuranceIndicator if participant owns private pension insurance.
SAVE Survey
Planned retirement ageAge in years when nonretired participants plan to retire (“At what age do you plan to retire?”). Nonretirees only.
Actual retirement ageAge in years when retired participants did retire (“At what year did you enter retirement?”). Retirees only.
SmokerIndicator that equals one if a participant responds yes to the question “Do you smoke regularly?” at least once in the used rounds of the panel.
OverdraftOverdraft measures the self-reported usage of the overdraft option provided by the participant’s bank. It ranges from one (never use overdraft) to four (more than 6 times per year).
Overdraft indicatorIndicator that equals one if participants use the overdraft option frequently (overdraft ≥ 3) at least once in the used rounds of the panel.
AgeCurrent age of participants in years.
GenderIndicator that equals one if a participant is male.
IncomeSelf-reported monthly net income.
Number of childrenNumber of participant’s children.
EducationVariable that takes a value of two for a university degree or higher, a value of one for a high school degree (German Abitur), and a value of zero for a lower or no degree.
MarriedIndicator that equals one if a participant is married.
Financial literacyNumber of correct responses to nine financial literacy questions (see Online Appendix B).
Subjective life expectancySelf-reported life expectancy in years of age.
Private pension insuranceIndicator that equals one if a participant owns private pension insurance.
Health statusSelf-assessed health status on a five-point scale (from very good (=5) to very bad (=1)).
Satisfaction with healthSelf-reported satisfaction with own health on a ten-point scale (from completely satisfied (=10) to not at all satisfied (=0)).
Prolonged illnessIndicator that takes the value of one if a participant reports to have prolonged health problems, illnesses, or disabilities.