CLSBE - Dissertações de Mestrado / Master Dissertations

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Are retirement dreams overshadowed by the looming burden of debt? : the case of Portugal
Publication . Costa, Helena Isabel Marques da; Correia, Isabel Horta
This thesis proposes a novel and comprehensive analysis of financial vulnerability among indebted households in Portugal, with a specific focus on elderly households. We use data from the Inquérito à Situação Financeira das Famílias (ISFF), which provides detailed information on household finances and consumption, to construct our sample. Our research framework explores the role of households’ disposable income, debt payments, non-debt-related expenses, and liquid assets in shaping household financial vulnerability. Our findings reveal that indebted households with an average age of 65 years old or older are significantly more likely to have negative financial buffers, despite their generally lower levels of debt. We also find that these households are more likely to be in financial vulnerability, due to the inability of their liquid assets to cope with the negative buffer, and are less capable of responding to adverse shocks in interest rates and changes in non-debt-related expenses. These results become even more pronounced when considering the sub-sample of indebted households with an average age of 75 years old or older.
2024-10-21Master thesis Open access Show more