RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Karen Dynan, October 28, 2009, National Forum to Encourage Lower-Income Household Savings
The current financial crisis has had a great impact on how Americans are saving. In a presentation for the “National Forum to Encourage Lower-Income Household Savings,” Karen Dynan explained that while aggregate personal saving should be markedly higher than before the crisis, it is difficult to predict the level of saving for lower-income households. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, July 16, 2009
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
On July 16, the Retirement Security Project and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center hosted Australian Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry, to discuss the Superannuation Guarantee- Australia's mandatory retirement savings system- and its relevance to American policy-makers. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Gary Burtless, July 14, 2009, National Journal
For many years, economists and other experts have bemoaned American consumers’ unwillingness to save. Now Americans are saving once again, and observers worry that too much saving translates directly into too little consumer demand. Gary Burtless examines whether consumer saving was too low in the past and whether this new saving pattern will continue.
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BOOK
William G. Gale, J. Mark Iwry, David John and Lina Walker, July 01, 2009
Automatic argues for a fresh approach to increase saving, simplify retirement planning, and help manage the risks associated with today's individual account environment. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Isabel V. Sawhill, June 11, 2009, McClatchy Tribune
While the government has been busy with bailouts, who is going to bail out the U.S. government when our creditors tire of lending to us? And now, thanks to the stimulus, virtually all those over age of 65 are receiving $250 checks, regardless of whether or not they need it. Isabel Sawhill says it’s time for Congress and the administration to get serious about getting our fiscal house in order. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Barry P. Bosworth and Sarah Anders, February 28, 2009, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
This paper by Barry Bosworth and Sarah Anders reports on a project to construct and evaluate a wealth and saving dataset for those households who responded to the supplementary wealth and active saving modules of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) over the period of 1984 to 2005. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Barry P. Bosworth and Rosanna Smart, January 31, 2009, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Barry Bosworth and Rosanna Smart presents an overview of changes in household wealth accumulation and saving using wealth data from three micro-level surveys. They provide comparisons to the macroeconomic estimates of wealth accumulation and saving, explore problems in constructing household-level valuations of wealth, and assess the value of using household-level datasets to examine wealth accumulation and saving behavior in the United States. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, January 29, 2009, The Fiscal High Road
Despite criticism of the Social Security Act, and it's application to twenty fist century America, Henry Aaron believes that those views are wrong. In broad outline, he says, the system is sound, sensibly designed, and affordable though some changes are now desirable, and that others will, and should, be made as economic and political conditions warrant. But he urges, they should affirm and strengthen the system, not scale it back or repeal it. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Eswar Prasad and Marcos Chamon, December 30, 2008, The Brookings Institution
In China, the household savings rate rose by 7 percent from 1995 to 2005, reflecting savings of about one quarter of disposable income. Why are Chinese households saving so much across all demographic groups? In a new paper, Eswar Prasad and Marcos Chamon analyze the savings patterns of households in China and discuss the economic drivers. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale and Benjamin H. Harris, December 08, 2008, Tallahassee Democrat
Innovative and sound tax policy may be one way out of our financial rut, argue Bill Gale and Ben Harris. An effective tax code can buoy an economic recovery; down the road, taxation can help achieve the Obama administration's goals in health care, in energy policy and, ultimately, for fiscal balance. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling, Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir, Lee Vermeulen and Marian V. Wrobel, November 20, 2008, Ideas42
Jeffrey Kling and Ideas42 researchers have found that seniors are more likely to switch Medicare healthcare plans and save substantial amounts by changing from their existing plan. Given the overall state of the economy and recent news that drug plans are increasing their premiums up to 64 percent, the study helped inform the 24 million seniors in the program to shop around for the best price as open enrollment for Medicare Part D drug plans began. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling, November 18, 2008, The News & Observer
The six-week annual open season for choosing health care options is under way. If you, or someone that you know, has prescription drug insurance from Medicare Part D, here's an idea that could save a bundle over the next year: consider switching plans, says Jeffrey Kling. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling, Jeffrey R. Brown, Sendhil Mullainathan, Garth R. Wiens and Marian V. Wrobel, October 31, 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
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