Housing Bequest Incentive: A Theory and Evidence-Based Approach

Abstract

This paper studies housing bequest incentives for old citizens and the incentives are a function of their wealth. Recently, wealth management strategies for the old citizen emphasize life-time consumption rather than bequest. The trend of the strategies leads to an introduction of reverse mortgage products backed by residential houses and agricultural land. Building a simple theoretical model of wealth bequest, the paper provides empirical evidence, using an ordered logit model. The evidence for nation-wide olde citizens suggests that ‘Die Broke’ is a strategy that rich old citizens are not likely to exercise.