There has been extensive research on the importance of saving for retirement and on tools to support the accumulation of retirement wealth. Much less attention has been paid to the decumulation phase, that is, the spending down of wealth following retirement. Understanding the decumulation phase requires information about the spending patterns of older households and how those patterns evolve with age. This study uses comprehensive longitudinal data on total household spending from a survey that is representative of the older U.S. population to estimate the trajectories of spending after age 65. Based on data spanning the period 2005–2019, real spending declined for both single and coupled households after age 65 at annual rates of about 1.7 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. Stratification by wealth holdings observed at or closely following age 65 showed sizeable variation in spending levels by wealth quartile, but little variation in rates of change in spending. The fact that spending declines broadly, including among those in the highest wealth quartile, suggests that the decline may not be related to economic position. This view is supported by an analysis of budget shares which show increases with age in the budget share for gifts and donations which suggests that economic position on average does not deteriorate with age, even as spending declines.

人们对退休储蓄的重要性以及支持退休财富积累的工具进行了广泛的研究。人们对“累积阶段”（即退休后财富的消耗）的关注要少得多。了解消费阶段需要了解老年家庭的支出模式以及这些模式如何随年龄变化的信息。本研究使用一项代表美国老年人口的调查中的家庭总支出综合纵向数据来估计 65 岁以后的支出轨迹。根据 2005 年至 2019 年期间的数据，单身家庭和夫妻家庭的实际支出均有所下降65 岁以后，年增长率分别约为 1.7% 和 2.4%。在 65 岁或紧随其后观察到的财富持有分层显示，按财富四分位数划分的支出水平存在相当大的差异，但支出变化率变化不大。支出普遍下降（包括最高财富四分之一群体的支出）这一事实表明，支出下降可能与经济状况无关。这一观点得到了预算份额分析的支持，该分析显示，礼物和捐赠的预算份额随着年龄的增长而增加，这表明，即使支出下降，平均经济状况也不会随着年龄的增长而恶化。表明下降可能与经济地位无关。这一观点得到了预算份额分析的支持，该分析显示，礼物和捐赠的预算份额随着年龄的增长而增加，这表明，即使支出下降，平均经济状况也不会随着年龄的增长而恶化。表明下降可能与经济地位无关。这一观点得到了预算份额分析的支持，该分析显示，礼物和捐赠的预算份额随着年龄的增长而增加，这表明，即使支出下降，平均经济状况也不会随着年龄的增长而恶化。