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Survey Estimates of Wealth - Mathematica Policy Research

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period. With or without adjustment, the timing <strong>of</strong> the surveys will favor the SIPP wealth<br />

estimates over the SCF and will favor the PSID estimates over both the SCF and the SIPP.<br />

1. Net Worth<br />

Table II.3 presents estimates <strong>of</strong> net worth derived from the SIPP, the PSID, and the SCF,<br />

and the last two columns express the SIPP estimates as a percentage <strong>of</strong>, first, the PSID estimate<br />

and then the SCF estimate. The top panel includes all <strong>of</strong> the wealth measured in each <strong>of</strong> the<br />

three surveys while the middle and bottom panels present alternative estimates <strong>of</strong> non-retirement<br />

wealth. The middle panel excludes 401(k), thrift, and defined contribution pension accounts<br />

from all three surveys. These components were added to the SIPP and the PSID in 1996 and<br />

1999, respectively. 16 The bottom panel excludes, in addition, the amounts reported for IRA and<br />

Keogh accounts. 17<br />

Relative to the SCF, the SIPP captures only 49.5 percent <strong>of</strong> aggregate net worth, falling<br />

short by nearly $15 trillion (out <strong>of</strong> $29 trillion). As we have seen, our estimates for these two<br />

surveys represent approximately the same number <strong>of</strong> families, so the SIPP estimate <strong>of</strong> mean net<br />

worth is also 49.5 percent <strong>of</strong> the SCF estimate. The SIPP median, however, is two-thirds <strong>of</strong> the<br />

SCF median, indicating that the SIPP does comparatively better in at least the lower half <strong>of</strong> the<br />

net worth distribution than it does in the aggregate. The SIPP captures 60.0 percent <strong>of</strong> the PSID<br />

estimate <strong>of</strong> aggregate net worth but a somewhat larger fraction <strong>of</strong> PSID mean net worth, given<br />

16 The 1996 SIPP panel captured 401(k) and thrift accounts in each annual wealth module, but other pension<br />

accounts were identified in a separate module and only once (in wave 7). These other pension assets are not<br />

included in the estimates <strong>of</strong> SIPP wealth presented in this chapter, but we provide estimates <strong>of</strong> pension wealth from<br />

this additional module in Chapter IV.<br />

17 The PSID does not include Keogh plans with IRAs, but it combines IRAs with annuities, which the SIPP<br />

does not measure at all and which the SCF includes elsewhere.<br />

24

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