RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Gary Burtless, October 31, 2008, The Brookings Institution
While Social Security’s long-term problems represent a major policy challenge, the sharp fall in stock prices serves as a reminder that many substitutes for Social Security – such as individual retirement accounts -- have problems of their own. Gary Burtless analyzes how personal retirement savings accounts have performed historically, including over the past 12 months, and finds that retirement funds invested solely or mainly in the stock market offer a very shaky foundation for retirement income. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling, Jeffrey R. Brown, Sendhil Mullainathan, Garth R. Wiens and Marian V. Wrobel, October 2008, The Brookings Institution
In this paper, Jeffrey R. Brown, Jeffrey R. Kling, Sendhil Mullainathan, Garth R. Wiens and Marian V. Wrobel test the relative effectiveness of their two framing contexts for life annuities when different reference points are introduced, testing for loss aversion in both investment and consumption frames. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, September 22, 2008, The Brookings Institution
In the midst of the financial chaos enveloping Wall Street and threatening the U.S. and global economy, Henry Aaron says it is worth a moment to recall the quite serious debate just three years ago about partly privatizing Social Security, a step that would have exposed retirement and disability pensions to risks like those now confronting private investors. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
As baby-boomers begin to retire and health care spending continues to outpace income growth, Medicare faces a dire financial future and needs reform. To help guide the debate that will precede this reform, Henry Aaron and Jeanne Lambrew have written Reforming Medicare: Options, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities which outlines three broad approaches to reform. At this event, Aaron, Lambrew and other advocates discussed the three different reform strategies. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
J. Mark Iwry and David C. John, July 16, 2008, Senate Special Committee on Aging
Fully half of America’s working families lack any employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. Testifying before a Senate panel, J. Mark Iwry and David C. John called for a common strategy to preserve and expand retirement savings in a manner that transcends partisan differences, an approach that includes preserving employer-sponsored retirement plans and broadening participation and coverage options. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
J. Mark Iwry, June 26, 2008, House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
J. Mark Iwry and David C. John propose an automatic IRA approach which offers most employees not covered by an employee-sponsored retirement plan the opportunity to save through the powerful mechanism of regular payroll deposits that continue automatically. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
R. Kent Weaver, June 2008, The Brookings Institution
Kent Weaver argues that a new approach to Social Security reform requires the president and congressional leaders to agree on an overall mandate for a commission named through a bipartisan nominating process designed to generate a group that is likely to focus on practical, consensus-building solutions. Special procedures in each house of Congress would provide expedited consideration of the commission’s reform package and alternatives, while providing incentives for constructive congressional engagement in the reform process. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alice M. Rivlin and John W. Kingdon, June 17, 2008, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The next president and new Congress face a daunting set of challenges come January 2009: Iraq war, troubled economy, global climate change, looming government debt, taxes, health care reform and rebuilding infrastructure, all vying for immediate attention. Such a long "to do" list presents two possible tactics: tackle the hardest problem first or get the easy ones out of the way. Alice M. Rivlin and John W. Kingdon prefer the latter and would start with Social Security. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
8:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Washington, DC
The Retirement Security project hosted, “The Automatic Revolution: Changing How America Saves,” marking the 10th anniversary of the 1998 Treasury/IRS ruling that made automatic saving mechanisms possible. The conference was intended to highlight that decision, the dramatic changes that automatic plans have created since then, and the prospects for the future – for both automatic 401ks and automatic IRAs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jason Furman, June 2008, Hamilton Project Strategy Paper
In this overview paper, Jason Furman examines reasons why markets that could reduce risks are missing and what the government can do to foster markets in these areas. He xplains that certain laws and regulations, market failures and behavioral biases of consumers act as barriers to market formation. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, J. Mark Iwry, David C. John and Lina Walker, June 2008, Hamilton Project Discussion Paper
Despite their many benefits, the take-up rate for annuities is currently low because of behavioral biases and market failures. In this paper, William Gale, J. Mark Iwry, David John and Lina Walker propose a two-year trial to allow retirees to experience the consistency, security, and simplicity of the lifetime income stream guaranteed by annuities. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, June 05, 2008
9:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
Hurricanes, retirement, home-buying and tax-base erosion all pose financial risks. Yet markets to reduce these risks are elusive. The Hamilton Project at Brookings released papers at a discussion on how sound public policy can play a critical role in helping to foster new markets or expand existing markets in ways that could provide widely shared benefits. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, May 15, 2008, The Sacramento Bee
Stimulus checks are a bright note in this year’s tax season. But, William Gale asserts, the annual tax-filing ritual is otherwise complicated and outdated. He recommends that the presidential candidates advocate changes like streamlining tax incentives and allowing some taxpayers to pay without filing returns. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alan J. Auerbach, Jason Furman and William G. Gale, May 08, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Alan J. Auerbach, Jason Furman and William Gale discuss the most recent Congressional Budget Office baseline projection, and use it to examine the causes of the fiscal decline since 2000 and the medium- and longer-term fiscal outlook. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling, Jeffrey R. Brown, Sendhil Mullainathan and Marian V. Wrobel, March 2008, The Retirement Security Project
Jeffrey Kling, Jeffrey Brown, Sendhil Mullainathan and Marian Wrobel explore the idea that people's aversion to annuities is not a fully rational phenomenon. They suggest that a psychologically richer model of consumer behavior can explain under-annuitization. Read More