With today's availability of Social Security and Medicare, we typically think of the older years as a stage in life where people are supported financially. However, of the more than 40 million old adults currently living in the US, many are struggling financially living below or near the poverty line. They are lacking the assets necessary to see them through a period of life that is often longer than expected and that requires more health and long-term care. While financial vulnerability can be most pronounced in old age, it is often created across decades, revealing itself in later years when there is little opportunity to reverse a lifetime of disadvantage. The concept of Financial Capability refers to both an individual and structural idea that combines a person's ability to act with their opportunity to act in their best financial interests.In Financial Capability and Asset Holding in Later Life: A Life Course Perspective the concept of Financial Capability is used to underscore the importance of acquiring knowledge and skills while addressing policies and services than can build financial security. The volume assembles the latest evidence on financial capability and assets among older adults using a life course perspective, arguing that older adults need financial knowledge and financial services in order to build secure lives, and that this process needs to begin before it is too late to make effective changes and choices.Broken into three parts, the book's chapters - written by leading experts in the field - blend together empirical findings, economic and social theory, and case studies. Part 1 opens the book with a conceptual and empirical overview of financial capability and assets among older adults using a life course perspective. Part 2 presents chapters addressing financial vulnerability of diverse racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and immigrants. Part 3 includes chapters describing current policies, programs, and innovations, including a review of important issues of working and caregiving in later life, and a detailed assessment of "age-friendly" banking principles, banking products, services, and policies.

Introduction - Financial Capability in Later Life: A Life Course PerspectiveMargaret S. Sherraden and Nancy Morrow-HowellPart One - Financial Capability in Later Life: Theory and Evidence of Life Course Impacts1. The Economic and Financial Status of Older Americans: Trends and ProspectsWilliam R. Emmons and Bryan J. Noeth2. "All That Glitters is Not Gold": Social Mobility, Health, and Mental Health among African AmericansDarrell HudsonPart Two - Financial Capability in Later Life: Vulnerable Populations3. Assets and Older African AmericansTrina R. Williams Shanks and Wilhelmina A. Leigh4. Economic Security of Older Hispanics: The Role of Social Security and Employer-Sponsored PlansJacqueline L. Angel and Stipica Mudrazija5. Enhancing the Financial Capability of Native American EldersAmanda Barusch, Molly Tovar, and Tracy Golden6. Older Immigrants: Economic Security, Asset Ownership, Financial Access, and Public PolicyYunju Nam7. The Interactions of Disability, Aging, Assets, and Financial InstabilityMichelle PutnamPart Three - Policies and Innovations8. Asset Development among Older Adults: A Capability ApproachJin Huang and Jennifer C. Greenfield9. Long-Term Care in the United States: Who Pays?Jennifer C. Greenfield10. Workplace Policies and Practices: Opportunities for and Barriers to Accumulating Assets in Midlife and LaterErnest Gonzales11. Age-Friendly Banking: Policy, Products, and Services for Financial CapabilitySehar N. Siddiqi, Robert O. Zdenek, and Edward J. Gorman IIIConclusion - Financial Capability in Later Life: Summary and ApplicationsNancy Morrow-Howell, Michael Sherraden, and Margaret SherradenIndex