THREE ESSAY ON INTERGENERATIONAL FINANCIAL TRANSFERS AND HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL OUTCOMES

This dissertation examined intergenerational financial transfers through three essays employing distinct methodological approaches. A critical pattern emerged: while cross-sectional analyses revealed strong associations between family support and positive financial out comes, the one study employing within-household causal identification found null effects, suggesting selection rather than causation drives observed correlations. Essay 1 analyzed private annuity ownership and transfer behavior using Health and Retirement Study panel data (N = 97,921 observations). Household fixed-effects models leveraging 1,673 within-household changes yielded null effects (𝛽 = 0.007, p = .719), suggesting cross-sectional correlations reflect selection on household traits rather than causal effects. Essay 2 employed double/debiased machine learning with the full National Financial Capability Study sample (N = 27,118) to estimate associations between intergenerational support and financial vulnerability. Support associated with lower vulnerability (−0.11 SD; −11 pp), with effects concentrated among low-income households (−0.18 SD). Component decomposition revealed expense assistance correlated positively with vulnerability (+0.18 SD), indicating reverse causality, while gifts and inheritance expectations showed negative associations. Essay3examinedsatisfactionamongNFCSinvestors(N=2,824;61%college-educated, 40% earning ≥ $100K) using Bayesian hierarchical models. Support strongly associated with satisfaction (OR = 2.78, 95% CrI [2.20, 3.52]), though generalizability to lower-wealth households is limited. Thefindingsdemonstratethatobservedcorrelationslikelyreflectselection onhousehold characteristics rather than causal effects amenable to policy intervention, underscoring the importance of public safety nets for those without family resources.