Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108CH APTER 3 71 onsets, pinpointing diabetes, stroke, and lung disease as having especially negative wealth effects for women. Health status not only is linked to the amount of wealth, but also may be associated with the composition of household wealth portfolios. A study using HRS data for 1992 to 1998 found that poor health decreases the probability of holding certain types of assets, and that people in poor health tend to have relatively “safe” portfolios compared with those of people in good health (Rosen and Wu 2003). For this study, the researchers specified four categories of assets: “safe assets” (money market funds, checking and savings accounts, CDs, U.S. Treasury bills, and Government savings bonds), retirement accounts TBL. 3-4 HEALTH STATUS and household portfolio distributions: Data from the 1990s Notes: A person is “healthy” if she/he reports having excellent, very good, or good health. “Sick” refers to people reporting fair or poor health. Proportions held in asset categories were calculated only for people with positive financial wealth, and may not add to 100 percent due to rounding. Source: Rosen and Wu 2003, based on the first four waves of the HRS (1992-1998). Probability of Holding Asset Proportion Held in Asset Category Health Status Safe Retirement Bond Risky Safe Retirement Bond Risky Singles Singles Healthy 78 35 5 25 61 23 2 15 Sick 52 11 2 8 78 12 1 9 Married Couples Married Couples Both Healthy 88 53 9 38 50 30 2 19 One Spouse Sick 78 32 4 21 65 21 2 12 Both Spouses Sick 65 21 2 12 75 18 1 7 (IRAs and Keogh plans), bonds (corporate, municipal, foreign, and bond funds), and “risky assets” (stocks and mutual funds). Table 3-4 shows that, for both unmarried and married people, being healthy increases the likelihood of having each of the asset types. For example, 25 percent of healthy unmarried people hold risky assets, compared with only 8 percent of sick unmarried people (i.e., those reporting fair or poor health). Thirty-eight percent of married couples in good health hold risky assets, with the proportion declining to 21 percent if one spouse reports fair or poor health to 12 percent if both spouses report fair or poor health. Table 3-4 also shows that health status is related to the propor- tion of wealth in each asset category. Unmarried sick people have 78 percent of their wealth in safe assets, whereas healthy single people have 61 percent of their wealth in safe assets. Couples with both spouses sick hold three-quarters of their assets in safe instruments, compared with half for healthy couples.