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| When to Take Social Security: Questions to Consider
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National Academy of Social Insurance,
2/1/2010
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Retirees can claim Social Security benefits at any age between 62 and 70. There are sound financial reasons to work beyond the earliest age and to delay claiming Social Security benefits if you can. Monthly benefits will be higher for the rest of your life if you wait. Social Security is the safest and most secure source of retirement income most people have, it is guaranteed to last for life and it automatically keeps up with the cost of living. At advanced ages, work may no longer be an option, pensions may be eroded by inflation and savings may be depleted. Maximizing Social Security benefits for the long term can offset some of the decline in other sources of support.
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Download the report.
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| Tough Times Require Strong Social Security Benefits: Views on Social Security among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and White Americans
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National Academy of Social Insurance,
1/1/2010
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SUMMARY: Americans agree that Social Security has an important role to play during tough economic times. Worried about the poor economy’s effects on their prospects for retirement, Americans want to make sure that Social Security is strengthened for current and future generations. This is particularly true of African Americans (95%) and Hispanics (85%), who are more likely than whites (80%) to assert that Social Security is or will be an important part of their retirement income. Plagued by higher unemployment rates, fewer assets, and worries about paying their monthly bills, African Americans and Hispanics are especially supportive of strengthening Social Security. For example, when given a choice between cutting taxes and government spending or strengthening Social Security in response to the economic crisis and large deficit, two in three Americans (66%) – including 73 percent of African Americans, 67 percent of Hispanics, and 66 percent of whites – support strengthening Social Security over cutting its benefits. African Americans (90%), Hispanics (86%), and whites (75%) also strongly support benefit enhancements, such as extending benefits to college age children whose working parents have died or become disabled. Overall, 88 percent of African Americans, 84 percent of Hispanics, and 74 percent of whites agree that preserving Social Security for future generations is critical, even if it means increasing Social Security taxes on workers. A large majority of African Americans (98%), Hispanics (98%), and whites (90%) also agree that Congress should take action soon to strengthen Social Security’s financial outlook and guarantee income for benefit recipients.
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Download the report.
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| Social Security and Inheritance: The Dubious Promise of Private Accounts
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David Kamin,
Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
5/3/2006
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Careful analysis shows that private accounts are a dubious and overblown promise, for several reasons.
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Link to Report
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| Can We Afford Social Security When Baby Boomers Retire?
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Virginia Reno,
Joni Lavery,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
5/1/2006
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Perhaps the key question is not whether we can afford the population we will have. Rather, it is how Americans will choose to allocate national resources to accommodate an aging population. Many options exist to balance Social Security finances for baby boomers and those who follow.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Will The Administration Claim The Cost Of Fixing Social Security Rose $700 Billion Because Congress Did Not Act Last Year?
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Richard Kogan,
Robert Greenstein,
Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
5/1/2006
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President Bush and other Administration officials often repeat inaccurate claims about the costs of delaying action on Social Security.
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Link to Report
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| Trustees Continue to Assume Slowing Immigration, Weak Productivity
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Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
5/1/2006
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Dean Baker argues that the trustees understate two factors with critical influence on Social Security's long-term solvency: productivity growth and immigration rates.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| 2006 OASDI Trustees Report
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Social Security Administration,
5/1/2006
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The annual report of the trustees of Social Security for 2006.
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Link to Report
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| Social Security's Financial Outlook: The 2006 Update in Perspective
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Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
5/1/2006
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Putting the intermediate assumptions in this year's Social Security report in perspective.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Social Security Finances: Findings of the 2006 Trustees Report
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Virginia Reno,
Anita Cardwell,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
5/1/2006
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The findings of the 2006 trustees report of the National Academy of Social Insurance.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| What The New Trustees’ Report Shows About Social Security
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Robert Greenstein,
Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
5/1/2006
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Analysis of the projections and comparison of Social Security with other reasons for long-range deficits in the federal budget, specifically the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
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Link to Report
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| Reforming Social Security Sooner Rather Than Later: Fact and Fiction
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
4/28/2006
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Examines what the costs of delaying reform are, and why privatization plans of the sort proposed last year would do nothing to mitigate those costs, despite proponents' frequent claims.
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Link to Report
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| Social Security Administration Proposal to Revise Disability Determinations is Not Justified: African Americans Would Be Disproportionately Affected
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Arloc Sherman,
Eileen P. Sweeney,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
4/18/2006
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) is proposing to change how it evaluates age as a factor in establishing eligibility for disability benefits.
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Link to Report
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| Future Retirement Income Security Needs Defined Budget Pensions
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Tersea Ghilarducci,
Center for American Progress,
3/1/2006
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Are defined benefit (DB) pension plans dead? They certainly look dead. Now, retirement savings depend on workers’ ability to save regularly, invest wisely, and at low costs.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| African Americans and Social Security: The Implications of Reform Proposals
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Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
1/18/2006
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Proposals to scale back the traditional Social Security system and replace a portion of it with private accounts are unlikely to maintain the program's protections for African Americans to the same degree.
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Link to Report
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| The Impact of Immigration on Social Security and the National Economy
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Social Security Administration,
12/1/2005
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The number of immigrants entering the country affects the size of the working age population, the size of the labor force, the number of workers in OASDI covered employment, and thus the size and growth rate of GDP.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Sorting Out Social Security Replacement Rates
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Mauricio Soto,
Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
11/1/2005
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For anyone interested in retirement income policy, the most basic question is how much are people receiving today from Social Security, the backbone of the nation's retirement income system.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Why Do Women Claim Social Security Benefits So Early?
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Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
10/27/2005
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While working longer and taking advantage of the actuarial increase in Social Security can be a boon to workers' projected retirements security, women, even more than men, tend to claim Social Security benefits as soon as they become available.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Social Security 70th Anniversary Survey Report
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AARP,
8/11/2005
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The latest assessment of Social Security by the American public continues to reflect the
strong support that has also characterized assessments in 1985 and 1995.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Private Accounts Would Substantially Increase Federal Debt and Interest Payments
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James Horney,
Richard Kogan,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
8/2/2005
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All of the major proposals to replace a portion of Social Security with private accounts would
require large increases in federal borrowing for many decades.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| The Impact of the President's Proposal on Social Security Solvency and the Budget
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
7/22/2005
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How the President's pending plan for Social Security, comprised of private accounts and sliding scale benefit reductions based on Robert Pozen's proposal, would affect the program's solvency and the federal budget.
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Link to Report
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| The Demint and McCrery Social Security Plans
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Robert Greenstein,
Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
7/20/2005
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Under the DeMint and McCrery plans, Social Security’s current annual surpluses would be shifted to private accounts rather than used to purchase Treasury bonds for the Social Security Trust Fund.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Two Steps Back: African Americans and Latinos Will Lose Ground Under Social Security "Reform"
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William E. Spriggs,
Ross Eisenbrey,
Economic Policy Institute,
7/14/2005
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The United Airlines pension debacle, the president's Social Security proposal, and the coming debate about tax incentives for saving are all prompting a re-examination of U.S. retirement policies and programs.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Looking in the wrong places
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William E. Spriggs,
Economic Policy Institute,
7/13/2005
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According to President Bush, Social Security's long-term financial problems stem primarily from too many future beneficiaries receiving benefits that are too high for too long. The president proposes to solve the problem by lowering the share of income that Social Security insures for workers.
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Link to Report
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| Hispanics' large stake in the Social Security debate
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Fernando Torres-Gil,
Robert Greenstein,
David Kamin,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
6/28/2005
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Supporters of replacing part or all of Social Security with private accounts have argued that Hispanics receive relatively little for their payroll tax contributions to Social Security and would fare better under a system of private accounts.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Many already lack a steady job before the Social Security retirement age
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Elise Gould,
Economic Policy Institute,
6/15/2005
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In the Social Security debate, some policy makers have suggested raising the retirement age as a way to address the projected long-term gap in Social Security's finances.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Chilean Pension Reform: the Good, the Bad, and the In Between
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Mauricio Soto,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
6/3/2005
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While Chile's adoption of private accounts has been a boon to that country's capital markets, coverage remains low and the future success of the system is uncertain.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Would Private Accounts Provide a Higher Rate of Return than Social Security?
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
6/2/2005
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Comparing returns on investment accounts with the benefits provided by Social Security is unsound and misleading.
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Link to the Report (PDF)
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| Social Security Price Indexing Proposal Means Benefit Cuts for Workers
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William E. Spriggs,
David Ratner,
Economic Policy Institute,
6/1/2005
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How progressive price indexing would affect different groups of workers by gender, race, location, and other factors.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Mandatory Social Security Coverage of State and Local Workers: A perennial hot button
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Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
6/1/2005
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This Issue in Briefanalyzes the arguments for and against mandating Social Security coverage for newly hired state and local workers.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Productivity growth and Social Security's future
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Economic Policy Institute,
5/11/2005
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Although the share of the population in retirement will rise in coming decades, the U.S. economy can readily afford to maintain a strong Social Security program because productivity will rise faster than population.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Social Security Rates of Return with “Progressive Indexation”
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Dean Baker,
David Rosnick,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
5/1/2005
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This paper calculates rates of return for wage earners corresponding to the Social Security Administration’s definition of “low earners,” “medium earners,” “high earners,” and “maximum earners.”
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| The Regressive Impact of the Progressive Indexation of Social Security Benefits
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Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
5/1/2005
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While this schedule of benefit cuts is supposed to be progressive, the calculations in this paper show that middle-income earners would see large and growing benefit cuts under this formula.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Are the Social Security Trust Funds Meaningful?
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Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
5/1/2005
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Currently the Social Security trust funds hold $1.7 trillion in special Treasury
bonds. The question is whether this buildup of assets has been economically meaningful.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Restore Tax Fairness for Social Security's Solvency
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Christian Weller,
Center for American Progress,
5/1/2005
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Part of Social Security’s long-term financial shortfall stems from the fact that not all wages and salaries are subject to Social Security taxation.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Social Security Privatization: Abandoning Family Values
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Christian Weller,
Radha Chaurushiya,
Center for American Progress,
4/27/2005
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This half of the program, the people who received some form of family-based insurance benefits, is too often ignored in President Bush's push to privatize Social Security.
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Link to Report
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| Testimony on Social Security Reform
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Peter R. Orszag,
4/26/2005
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Peter Orszag, coauthor of Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach, testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on privatization and Social Security's Future.
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Link to Testimony (PDF)
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| The Ryan-Sununu Social Security Plan
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Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
4/26/2005
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The plan’s finances rest entirely on the assumed transfer of extraordinary sums from the rest of the budget to Social Security.
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Link to Report
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| Why Progressive Price Indexing Could Lead to the Unraveling of Social Security
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Jason Furman,
Gene Sperling,
Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
4/26/2005
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It would be desirable to make the Social Security benefit structure somewhat more progressive. But when progressive price indexing is coupled with private accounts, the political risk escalates very substantially.
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Link to Report
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| "Progressive Price Indexing" of Social Security Benefits
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Congressional Research Service,
4/22/2005
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Analysis on the effects of progressive price indexing, a change in the way Social Security benefits are calculated that gradually reduces benefits over time for high and average wage workers, while leaving benefits for low-wage workers intact.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| The Burden of Social Security Taxes and the Burden of Excessive Health Care Costs
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Dean Baker,
David Rosnick,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
4/7/2005
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The inefficiency of the U.S. health care system has a large and growing impact on the living standards of U.S. workers, a greater impact than the possibility of higher Social Security taxes.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| The Social Security Shortfall and the National Defense Shortfall
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Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
4/5/2005
|
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It is remarkable that politicians and commentators have devoted so much attention to the projected Social Security shortfall, while virtually ignoring the far larger expenses that are implied by maintaining the current U.S. defense policy.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| What is Progressive Price Indexing?
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Alicia Munnell,
Mauricio Soto,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
4/1/2005
|
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Progressive price indexing has the advantage of protecting the benefits of low earning workers.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Social Security Privatization: The Mother of All Unfunded Mandates
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Christian Weller,
Center for American Progress,
4/1/2005
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When Social Security benefits are too little to offer retirees a decent standard of living, governments will likely have to bail out a privatized Social Security system by increasing expenditures in other social programs.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| The State of 50+ America 2005
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AARP,
4/1/2005
|
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Looking back over the last decade, our economic indicators show some signs of real improvement in the well-being of the total 50+ population, although progress, where it existed, was often slow or uneven.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Social Security: The Most Important Anti-Poverty Program for Children
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Heather Boushey,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
3/28/2005
|
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While Social Security is recognized as a vital anti-poverty program for the elderly, it is also the country’s most important anti-poverty program for the nation’s children.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| The Life-Cycle Personal Accounts Proposal for Social Security: An Evaluation
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Robert J. Shiller,
National Bureau of Economic Relations,
3/25/2005
|
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Despite recent assertions, a “life-cycle portfolio” feature in private Social Security accounts would do little to improve returns and mitigate risk.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| What the New Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security
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Jason Furman,
Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
3/24/2005
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On March 23, the Social Security Board of Trustees released the 65th annual report on the program’s financial and actuarial status. The report projects that Social Security’s trust fund reserves will run out in 2041, one year earlier than last year’s projection.
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Link to Report
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| Asset Returns and Economic Growth
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Paul Krugman,
Dean Baker,
J. Bradford DeLong,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
National Bureau of Economic Relations,
3/24/2005
|
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The key question in economic policy debates is whether historical rates of return—especially the 6.5% or so average real realized rate of return on equities—are likely to persist into the future.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| Social Security and the Income of the Elderly
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Michael P. Ettlinger,
Jeff Chapman,
Economic Policy Institute,
3/23/2005
|
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Although Social Security is an important insurance program for people of all ages, at any given point in time the largest single demographic group of recipients is those age 65 and over.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| 2005 OASDI Trustees Report
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Social Security Administration,
3/23/2005
|
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The annual report of the trustees of Social Security finds little changed in the program's financial outlook since the 2004 report.
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Link to Report
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| Weak Economy Moves Social Security Depletion Date Closer
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Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
3/23/2005
|
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Change in the 2005 trustees' report was driven almost entirely by the economy’s weaker than expected performance last year, as all the key long-term demographic and economic assumptions were left unchanged.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Big Deficit, Little Deficit: The Bush Budget and Social Security
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Max B. Sawicky,
Economic Policy Institute,
3/23/2005
|
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Projections about Social Security finances in the future should be considered in the context of the federal budget as a whole, specifically, whether tax cuts enacted since 2000 are allowed to remain in place.
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Link to Report
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| An Analysis of Using "Progressive Price Indexing" To Set Social Security Benefits
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
3/21/2005
|
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Analysis of a change to Social Security's benefit structure proposed by Robert Pozen.
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Link to Report
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| Collision Course: The Bush Budget and Social Security
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Max B. Sawicky,
Economic Policy Institute,
3/16/2005
|
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The Bush Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2006 proposes the continuation of fiscal policies that undermine the federal government’s ability to perform traditional, basic functions, including its capacity to make good on obligations to Social Security and Medicare.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Hispanics and the Social Security Debate
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Richard Fry,
Jeffrey Passel,
Rakesh Kochhar,
Roberto Suro,
Pew Hispanic Center,
3/16/2005
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The nature, extent and timing of any changes to Social Security would have specific and distinct consequences for the Hispanic population.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Children Get Social Security, Too
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William E. Spriggs,
Poverty & Race Research Action Council,
3/15/2005
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The Social Security debate has focused almost exclusively on retirement issues. Neglected is the critical dimension of disability/survivor benefits and the importance of these to children and widows -- especially poor and minority families.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Defaulting on the Social Security Trust Fund: What It Would Mean, and How It Would Be Done
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Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
3/9/2005
|
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Since many politicians and political commentators seem to view a default on the government bonds held by the Social Security trust fund as a serious option, it is important that they gain a fuller understanding of the implications of such a default.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Privatization's Poor Return
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Christian Weller,
Center for American Progress,
3/4/2005
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Much of the Social Security privatization debate focuses on the rate of return of private accounts.
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Link to Article
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| Social Security's Financial Outlook: The 2005 Update and a Look Back
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Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
3/1/2005
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The 2005 Trustees Report reconfirms what has been evident for two decades – namely, Social Security is facing a long–term financing shortfall.
Changes in the underlying assumptions are unlikely to eliminate the problem.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Will Baby Boomers Drown in Debt?
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Mauricio Soto,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
3/1/2005
|
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Given the potential of debt to undermine the retirement security of an aging population, this Just the Facts examines trends in the debt burden for older workers over the past decade and assesses how vulnerable baby boomers may be in the future.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Social Security Finances: Findings of the 2005 Trustees Report
|
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Anita Cardwell,
Virginia Reno,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
3/1/2005
|
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Overview of the 2005 report from NASI.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Long-Range Financial Effects of Several Provisions on Social Security's Solvency
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Alice H. Wade,
Chris Chaplain,
Social Security Administration,
2/24/2005
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Long-range estimates of the effects on trust fund solvency and operations of several provisions, from Social Security's chief actuary.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Social Security Lifts 13 Million Seniors Above the Poverty Line: A State-By-State Analysis
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Isaac Shapiro,
Arloc Sherman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
2/24/2005
|
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Social Security benefits have a powerful poverty-preventing effect among the elderly.
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Link to Report
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| Sensible Funding Rules to Stabilize Pension Benefits
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Christian Weller,
Center for American Progress,
2/17/2005
|
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Proposed changes to pension funding rules would likely make matters worse for beneficiaries, hastening the demise of pension plans.
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Link to Report
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| Removing the Social Security Earnings Cap Virtually Eliminates Funding Gap
|
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Josh Bivens,
Economic Policy Institute,
2/17/2005
|
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SSA actuarial estimates show that eliminating the cap would virtually eliminate the projected 75-year funding shortfall.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Social Security Privatization: The Retirement Savings Gamble
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Christian Weller,
Center for American Progress,
2/10/2005
|
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These numbers show that privatization amounts to a retirement savings gamble, where the winnings are unevenly distributed. Some generations will do poorly, while others could do fine.
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Link to Report
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| Estimated Financial Effects of Pozen Reform Proposal
|
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Social Security Administration,
2/10/2005
|
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Official analysis of the financial effects of a plan including "progressive price indexing," as developed by Robert Pozen.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Proposed Social Security Price Indexing Would Slash Benefits
|
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Amy Chasanov,
Economic Policy Institute,
2/9/2005
|
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Analysis of recent CRS data showing how benefits for today's retirees would have been cut if price-indexing had been used.
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Link to Report
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| Empty Promise: The Benefit to African American Men of Private Accounts Under President Bush's Social Security Plan
|
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Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
2/9/2005
|
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The plan proposed by President Bush will not offer most African American men the opportunity to pass on an inheritance, unless they have an independent source of wealth.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Remember When? What We Can - and Can't - Learn From the Last Social Security Fight
|
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Mark Schmitt,
The American Prospect,
2/8/2005
|
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Looking for lessons in the last political battle over Social Security, where a short-lived confrontation between Ronald Reagan and the Democratic Congress eventually produced the bipartisan Greenspan commission.
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Link to Article
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| President Tries to Have it Both Ways: Using Misleading Numbers About a Social Security Crisis While Advancing a Plan That Would Make Matters Worse
|
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
2/7/2005
|
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In his State of the Union Address, President Bush used misleading statistics to create a false sense of crisis about Social Security.
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Link to Report
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| An Overview of Issues Raised by the Administration's Social Security Plan
|
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Jason Furman,
Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
2/7/2005
|
|
White House officials acknowledge that private accounts themselves do nothing to restore solvency.
|
Link to Report
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| How Large a Benefit Reduction Do You Need for the New Individual Accounts?
|
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Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
2/5/2005
|
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The White House example makes it appear as though a much larger fraction (and dollar amount) of retirement income would continue to come from the traditional Social Security benefit than would actually be the case.
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Link to Memo (PDF)
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| How the Individual Accounts in the President's New Plan Would Work
|
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
2/4/2005
|
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The automatic benefit reduction in the President's plan would constitute a 100 percent tax on the retirement savings in those accounts.
|
Link to Report
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| White House Press Secretary's Description of Administration's Private Accounts May Leave Misimpressions
|
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Jason Furman,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
2/3/2005
|
|
Response to a White House effort to critique a Washington Post article which explained how much or all of the balances in private accounts would essentially have to be paid back to the government.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Social Security Privatization's Motherhood Penalty
|
|
William E. Spriggs,
Economic Policy Institute,
2/2/2005
|
|
Privatization solution proposed by the Cato Institute punishes women who take time-out early for child care or more education.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| African Americans and the Social Security Debate
|
|
Institute for America's Future,
2/2/2005
|
|
Fact sheet on the special importance of Social Security for African Americans.
|
Link to Report(PDF)
|
|
|
| Why Young Workers Should Care About Social Security
|
|
AFL-CIO,
2/2/2005
|
|
Short brief on the importance of the Social Security program to younger workers.
|
Link (PDF)
|
|
|
| Hearings: Long Term Outlook for Social Security
|
|
United States Senate Committee on Finance,
2/2/2005
|
|
Testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Social Security's future.
|
Link to Testimony
|
|
|
| Social Security: Women, Children and the States
|
|
National Women's Law Center,
2/1/2005
|
|
The report highlights the impact of the cuts on widows, a group that is highly vulnerable to poverty in retirement, in a state-by-state analysis.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| What Does Price Indexing Mean for Social Security Benefits?
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Mauricio Soto,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
2/1/2005
|
|
The mechanics of both wage and price indexing, the impact of shifting from wages to prices, and the philosophical difference.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Options to Balance Social Security Funds Over the Next 75 Years
|
|
John Lavery,
Virginia Reno,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
2/1/2005
|
|
Exploring different options for reducing the program's long-term shortfall.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| Are Voters Paying Attention?
|
|
John Marttila,
The American Prospect,
2/1/2005
|
|
Progressives surely have the tools to defeat the privatization campaign. What’s needed is the right strategy.
|
Link to Article
|
|
|
| Manufacturing a Crisis: The Neocon Attack on Social Security
|
|
L. Randall Wray,
Levy Institute of Economics at Bard College,
2/1/2005
|
|
A look at the long-held conservative goal of phasing out the Social Security program.
|
Link to Policy Note (PDF)
|
|
|
| Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
1/31/2005
|
|
Small revisions to projections released by the CBO in June 2004.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| So-Called "Price Indexing" Proposal Would Result In Deep Reductions Over Time In Social Security Benefits
|
|
Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
1/28/2005
|
|
If initial benefits are indexed to prices instead of wages, Social Security benefits will shrink dramatically over time as a share of workers' pre-retirement wages.
|
Link to Analysis
|
|
|
| Estimated Effect of Price-Indexing Social Security Benefits on the Number of Americans 65 and Older in Poverty
|
|
Congressional Research Service,
1/28/2005
|
|
The effects that price indexing initial Social Security benefits from 1940 would have had on the number of Americans age 65 and older in poverty in 2003.
|
Download in PDF format
|
|
|
| Cross-Currents in Opinion About Private Accounts
|
|
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press,
1/27/2005
|
|
Drawing conclusions from the recent round of national surveys on Social Security.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| GOP Strategy Memo on Social Security
|
|
Various Authors,
GOP,
1/27/2005
|
|
A strategy document produced for Republican members of Congress detailing how to promote the President's privatization plan.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Uncharted Waters: Paying Benefits from Individual Accounts in Federal Retirement Policy
|
|
Various Authors,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
1/26/2005
|
|
The study focuses on the benefits to be paid under different forms of individual account proposals.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Impact of Privatization on Disability and Survivors Benefits
|
|
Democratic Staff of the Committee on Ways and Means,
1/24/2005
|
|
Brief look at the large population receiving Social Security benefits due to disability or survivor status.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Social Security Privatization Crisis: Assessing the Impact on African American Families
|
|
Maya Rockeymoore,
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation,
1/19/2005
|
|
An overview of the likely impact of individual accounts on African American families.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Thoughts on Social Security Reform
|
|
Jan Hatzius,
Edward F. McKelvey,
William C. Dudley,
Goldman Sachs Economic Research - GS Institutional Portal,
1/18/2005
|
|
Considers not just “narrow” Social Security remedies such as lower benefits and a higher retirement age but also “broader” approaches
such as lower discretionary spending and higher income taxes.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Should Old People Have Plumbing?
|
|
Matthew Yglesias,
The American Prospect,
1/11/2005
|
|
Why price-indexing would adversely affect living standards for seniors in the future.
|
Link to Article
|
|
|
| President Portrays Social Security Shortfall as Enormous, But His Tax Cuts and Drug Benefit Will Cost at Least Five Times as Much
|
|
Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
1/10/2005
|
|
Both rising health care costs, which drive much of the projected growth in Medicare costs, and the long-term cost of the President’s tax cuts pose much larger budgetary problems than Social Security.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| White House Memo on Social Security
|
|
Peter H. Wehner,
Wall Street Journal,
1/5/2005
|
|
Full text of a memo from Peter Wehner, President Bush's director of strategic initiatives, on the White House's plans for Social Security reform.
|
Link to Memo Text
|
|
|
| Social Security Program Fact Sheets
|
|
Social Security Administration,
1/3/2005
|
|
Basic current numbers on beneficiaries, average benefits, and trust fund financial operations.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Confusions about Social Security
|
|
Paul Krugman,
The Economists' Voice,
1/1/2005
|
|
Krugman addresses major points of confusion in the Social Security debate: the meaning of the trust fund, the likely rate of return on private accounts, and the (ir)relevance of reductions in far future liabilities.
|
Link to Article
|
|
|
| Yikes! How to Think About Risk?
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Mauricio Soto,
Steven A. Sass,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
1/1/2005
|
|
Why evaluations of Social Security privatization proposals should take into account greater investment risk.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| SSA Data on Social Security Programs throughout the World
|
|
Social Security Administration,
1/1/2005
|
|
The Social Security Administration's listings of Social Security programs around the world, and their history and structure.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Compilation of the Social Security Laws
|
|
Social Security Administration,
1/1/2005
|
|
Current Social Security legislation incorporating all changes to the original 1935 Act.
|
Link to Contents
|
|
|
| Long-Term Analysis of the Diamond-Orszag Social Security Plan
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
12/22/2004
|
|
This long-term analysis considers the effects of the proposal described in Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Would Borrowing $2 Trillion for Individual Accounts Eliminate $10 Trillion in Social Security Liabilities?
|
|
William G. Gale,
Peter R. Orszag,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
12/13/2004
|
|
Comparing the long-term deficit under Social Security to the cost of borrowing money now for individual accounts is misleading.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Should the Budget Rules Be Changed So that Large-Scale Borrowing to Fund Individual Accounts Is Left Out of the Budget?
|
|
William G. Gale,
Peter R. Orszag,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
12/13/2004
|
|
Analyzing proposals to finance individual accounts "off-budget" as some proponents have suggested recently.
|
Link to Analysis
|
|
|
| Does Work Pay at Older Ages?
|
|
C. Eugene Steuerle,
Barbara Butrica,
Karen E. Smith,
Richard W. Johnson,
Urban Institute,
12/5/2004
|
|
One way of relieving the economic pressures created by an aging population would be to encourage workers to delay retirement.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| A Bird’s Eye View of the Social Security Debate
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
12/2/2004
|
|
Issue brief highlighting key points in the debate over Social Security privatization.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| African Americans and Social Security: Why the Privatization Advocates are Wrong
|
|
William E. Spriggs,
Dollars and Sense: The Magazine of Economic Justice,
12/1/2004
|
|
Proponents of Social Security privatization are trying to claim that the current program is unfair to African Americans and that a privatized program would serve African Americans better.
|
Link to Article
|
|
|
| Social Security Reform and Its Effects on Participation in the Supplemental Security Income Program
|
|
Karen E. Smith,
Jilian A. Berk,
Melissa Favreault,
The Urban Institute,
AARP,
12/1/2004
|
|
This issue brief attempts to determine the potential effects on Supplemental Security Income of five Social Security reform options that would reduce guaranteed benefits.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| Social Security Plus
|
|
Robert M. Ball,
Campaign for America's Future,
12/1/2004
|
|
This two-part plan restores Social Security to long-term (75-year) balance and establishes a simple, low-cost way for individuals to set up personal savings accounts supplemental to Social Security.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Let Us Count the Ways: The Costs of Social Security Privatization are in the Details
|
|
Christian Weller,
Jeffrey B. Wenger,
Center for American Progress,
11/18/2004
|
|
How individual accounts would increase so-called labor market risks—an effect often ignored in the public debate.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Basic Facts on Social Security and Proposed Benefit Cuts/Privatization
|
|
David Rosnick,
Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
11/16/2004
|
|
The Center for Economic and Policy Research offers a primer on Social Security's finances and privatization plans.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| The No Economist/Policy Analyst Left Behind Test for Social Security
|
|
Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
11/12/2004
|
|
A projected 6.5 percent return on stocks over the next 75 years is inconsistent with the projections used by the Social Security trustees.
|
Link to Brief
|
|
|
| SSA's Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2004
|
|
Various Authors,
Social Security Administration,
11/10/2004
|
|
2004 installment of the annual report on the Social Security Administration's operations.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Social Security Benefit Amounts
|
|
Social Security Administration,
11/4/2004
|
|
The Social Security Administration's description of the formula used to calculate benefits and autotamatic increases in benefits.
|
Link to Summary
|
|
|
| Public Pension Reform in the United Kingdom: What Effect on the Financial Well Being of Current and Future Pensioners?
|
|
Richard Disney,
Carl Emmerson,
Institute for Fiscal Studies,
10/28/2004
|
|
The effect of pension program reforms in the United Kingdom on the financial well being of both current and (in particular) future generations of pensioners.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Why Social Security is Important to Hispanic and Latino Americans
|
|
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare,
10/1/2004
|
|
Proponents of privatization ignore the broad array of benefits that make Social Security a uniquely valuable program for Hispanic Americans.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Why Social Security is Important to African Americans
|
|
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare,
10/1/2004
|
|
By focusing on a very narrow element of the Social Security system, proponents of privatization ignore the broad array of benefits that make Social Security a uniquely valuable program to African Americans.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Reform Model Two of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security
|
|
Various Authors,
Urban Institute,
9/30/2004
|
|
Analysis of different potential consequences of implementing the most popular of the CSSS' private account proposals.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| How Pension Financing Affects Returns to Different Generations
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
9/22/2004
|
|
Moving a pension system from a pay-as-you-go to a funded basis would impose a burden on some generations.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| Thoughts on Population Growth and Productivity
|
|
Charlotte Muller,
International Longevity Center,
9/1/2004
|
|
The link between population growth and the financial wellbeing
of a nation has been misunderstood.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Fees of Private Accounts and the Impact of Social Security Privatization on Financial Managers
|
|
Austan Goolsbee,
University of Chicago,
9/1/2004
|
|
Realistic fees on private accounts under the Commission's plan would severely reduce account balances and transfer billions to financial managers.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| How Social Security Benefits the Latino Community
|
|
Eric Rodriguez,
Kim Tucker,
Center for American Progress,
8/13/2004
|
|
According to data published by the Social Security Administration, Social Security is the major source of income for approximately two-thirds of the nation's elderly, and helps to lift about 12 million people out of poverty each year. It is especially important to Latinos, who fare better under Social Security than most other groups of Americans
|
How Social Security Benefits the Latino Community
|
|
|
| Long-Term Analysis of Plan 2 of the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
7/21/2004
|
|
An in-depth analysis of the frequently cited plan, with estimates of how it would affect the program's finances and future benefit levels.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Should We Raise Social Security’s Earliest Eligibility Age?
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Kevin Meme,
Kevin Cahill,
Natalia Jivan,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
6/22/2004
|
|
While an increase in the EEA might be a good idea from a retirement income perspective, it is a tough sell politically.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| 2004 SSI Annual Report
|
|
Social Security Administration,
6/3/2004
|
|
The Annual Report of the Supplemental Security Income Program issued in May 2004 describes the financial status of the program.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Health Insurance Coverage in Retirement
|
|
Jeffrey Wenger,
Christian Weller,
Elise Gould,
Economic Policy Institute,
6/1/2004
|
|
New data on medical coverage in retirement raises serious concerns about the future retirement security of the elderly and near-elderly.
|
Learn more and order online
|
|
|
| The Outlook for Social Security
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
6/1/2004
|
|
CBO's projections for Social Security's finances over the next 100 years, based on current law.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Projections of Benefit Levels for Different Age and Income Groups
|
|
Various Authors,
Congressional Budget Office,
6/1/2004
|
|
Calculating projected benefits for future retirees using a variety of measures.
|
Link to Paper
|
|
|
| Retirement Age and the Need for Saving
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
5/12/2004
|
|
Labor force data suggest that some workers are indeed working longer and that the long-term trend toward earlier retirement may have ceased or even reversed.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| How Will Boomers Fare at Retirement?
|
|
Barbara Butrica,
Cori E. Uccello,
Urban Institute,
5/1/2004
|
|
The answer to the question of the adequacy of boomer retirement preparation is an elusive one, although some of the best work on the subject is optimistic.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| How Progressive is Social Security and Why?
|
|
C. Eugene Steuerle,
Adam Carasso,
Lee Cohen,
Urban Institute,
5/1/2004
|
|
The old age and survivors insurance part of Social Security has little redistributive effect for less-educated, lower-income, and nonwhite groups, although there is substantial redistribution to women.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Population Aging: It's Not Just the Baby Boom
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
4/30/2004
|
|
Challenging the conventional wisdom about the aging of America.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| 2004 Green Book
|
|
United States House of Representatives,
4/1/2004
|
|
Explanation and analysis regarding Social Security in the House Ways and Means Committee's annual report.
|
Link to Contents
|
|
|
| The Pensions Primer
|
|
Various Authors,
Pensions Policy Institute,
4/1/2004
|
|
A basic guide to the UK's complicated and frequently changing pension system.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Just the Facts on Retirement Issues: Why Are So Many Older Women Poor?
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
4/1/2004
|
|
Not only do older single women have high levels of poverty, but they are a significant portion of the elderly population.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| 2004 OASDI Trustees Report
|
|
Social Security Administration,
3/24/2004
|
|
Each year, the trustees of Social Security release a report on the system's finances and operations, along with actuarial estimates of the program's future.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| The Retirement Prospects of the Baby Boomers
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
3/18/2004
|
|
Assessing whether the baby boom generation is financially prepared for retirement, and how possible changes in federal retirement benefits like Social Security will affect them.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| Exploding Productivity Growth:
Context, Causes, and Implications
|
|
Robert Gordon,
Brookings Institution Press,
3/9/2004
|
|
Examining the assumptions behind Social Security predictions.
|
Link to Article (PDF)
|
|
|
| Social Security Reform and Benefit Adequacy
|
|
Lawrence Thompson,
Urban Institute,
3/1/2004
|
|
How changes in the retirement age and other cost-cutting reforms could seriously affect retirement benefits for low-wage workers.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| Administrative Costs of Private Accounts in Social Security
|
|
Various Authors,
Congressional Budget Office,
3/1/2004
|
|
Comparing administrative costs for Social Security, the federal Thrift Savings Plan, retail mutual funds, and private defined-contribution plans.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Social Security Reform
|
|
Dawn Nuschler,
Congressional Research Service,
2/12/2004
|
|
The Congressional Research Service offers an overview of the reform debate and evaluates major points of contention.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Distributional Consequences of a "No-Action" Scenario
|
|
Andrew G. Biggs,
Social Security Administration,
2/1/2004
|
|
If no action were taken to strengthen Social Security, the benefit reductions necessitated by trust fund exhaustion would double the poverty rate of Social Security beneficiaries aged 64 to 78 in 2039.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| Coming Up Short: The Challenge of 401(k) Plans
|
|
Annika Sunden,
Alicia Munnell,
The Brookings Institution,
2/1/2004
|
|
Analyzing the evidence on 401(k) plans and their function as an increasingly vital source of retirement income for the American middle class.
|
Learn more and order online
|
|
|
| Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach
|
|
Peter A. Diamond,
Peter R. Orszag,
The Brookings Institution,
2/1/2004
|
|
Two of the nation’s foremost economists propose a plan to restore long-term financial balance to the program while preserving its core social insurance role. Read a summary (PDF).
|
Order Online
|
|
|
| Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America
|
|
Various Authors,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
1/1/2004
|
|
To what extent must social insurance programs address historical, social, and economic inequities?
|
Order Online
|
|
|
| Social Security Coverage in Chile, 1990-2001
|
|
Salvador Valdes-Prieto,
The World Bank,
1/1/2004
|
|
Identifying the main forces that influenced the coverage of the new Chilean pension system during the 1990s.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Will Americans Ever Become Savers? The 14th Retirement Confidence Survey, 2004
|
|
Employee Benefit Research Institute,
1/1/2004
|
|
This Issue Brief reports on the findings from the 14th annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), a comprehensive study of the attitudes and behaviors of American workers and retirees toward saving, retirement planning, and long-term financial security.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| It's All Relative: Understanding the Retirement Prospects of Baby Boomers
|
|
Barbara Butrica,
Karen E. Smith,
Howard Iams,
Urban Institute,
11/30/2003
|
|
Baby boomers can expect higher incomes and lower poverty rates in retirement than current retirees.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Robert Ball on the Politics of Social Security
|
|
Edward Berkowitz,
University of Wisconsin Press,
11/15/2003
|
|
Considering the legacy of Robert Ball, the single most influential voice in social insurance during the latter half of the twentieth century.
|
Order Online
|
|
|
| The Under-pensioned
|
|
Chris Curry,
Pensions Policy Institute,
11/1/2003
|
|
Most retirees in the United Kingdom are at risk of being ‘under-pensioned’ and recent reforms to the pension system will not solve the problem.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Can America Afford Tomorrow's Retirees: Results From the EBRI-ERF Retirement Security Projection Model
|
|
Employee Benefit Research Institute,
11/1/2003
|
|
American retirees will have at least $45 billion less in retirement income in 2030 than what they will need to cover basic expenditures and any expense associated with an episode of care in a nursing home or from a home health care provider.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| Estimates of Financial Effects for the Diamond-Orszag Social Security Plan
|
|
Stephen C. Goss,
Social Security Administration,
10/8/2003
|
|
Official estimates of the effects of the plan described in Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| The Social Security Benefit Formula
|
|
Laurel Beedon,
Mitja Ng-Baumhackl,
AARP,
8/1/2003
|
|
AARP explains how Social Security benefits are calculated.
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| Social Security and African Americans: Some Facts
|
|
Ke Bin Wu,
Laurel Beedon,
AARP,
8/1/2003
|
|
Some assert that African Americans and Hispanics bear a large portion of the cost of the program, but will receive little in benefits. What are the facts?
|
Link to Issue Brief
|
|
|
| A Guide to State Pension Reform
|
|
Alison O'Connell,
Pensions Policy Institute,
7/10/2003
|
|
The case for pension reform in the UK, with comparisons to state pension systems in other countries.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Future Growth of Social Security: It's Not Just Society's Aging
|
|
Congressional Budget Office,
7/1/2003
|
|
By absorbing a larger share of the federal budget, Social Security spending could crowd out other functions of government or require higher taxes on tomorrow's workers.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Social Security Reform: Analysis of a Trust Fund Exhaustion Scenario
|
|
General Accounting Office,
7/1/2003
|
|
The “Trust Fund Exhaustion” scenario underscores the need to take action
sooner rather than later to address Social Security’s financing shortfall.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Letting Older Workers Work
|
|
Rudolph Penner,
Pamela Perun,
C. Eugene Steuerle,
Urban Institute,
7/1/2003
|
|
Within 10 years, baby boomers will begin retiring in large numbers. The United States will lose the services of millions of highly skilled, experienced workers.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Gender Impact of Pension Reform in Latin America—and Broader Policy Implications
|
|
Alejandra Cox Edwards,
Rebeca Wong,
Estelle James,
Urban Institute,
6/30/2003
|
|
Impact on women of recently instituted pension systems that include both public defined benefit and private defined contribution pillars.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security
|
|
Social Security Administration,
6/1/2003
|
|
Frequently requested data for the Social Security (retirement, survivors, and disability) and Supplemental Security Income programs.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| Social Security: The Largest Source of Income for Both Women and Men in Retirement
|
|
Heidi Hartmann,
Sunhwa Lee,
Institute for Women's Policy Research,
4/1/2003
|
|
During retirement, Social Security is the most common and the largest source of income for both women and men.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| State Capacity and Pensions
|
|
Stephen J. Kay,
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta,
3/29/2003
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Whether or not the new systems of individual accounts in Latin America can ultimately deliver upon these claims is an open question. Despite the increasing role of the private sector in the administration and financing of pensions, the role of the state remains critical to the success of the new systems.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| Social Security: Brief Facts and Statistics
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Geoffrey Kollman,
Congressional Research Service,
3/20/2003
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Facts and statistics about Social Security including information about taxes and benefits, the program’s impact on recipients’ incomes, federal tax receipts, and more.
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Link to Report (PDF)
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| Administration's Tax Cuts Worsen Prospects for Bridging 75-Year Gaps in Social Security and Medicare
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Robert Greenstein,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
3/19/2003
|
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Tax cuts siphon revenue from Social Security solvency plans.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| The 2003 OASDI Trustees Report
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Social Security Administration,
3/17/2003
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The report presents current and projected future financial status of the Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance Trust Funds for 2003.
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Link to Report
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| Social Security Finances: Findings of the 2003 Trustees Report
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Catherine Hill,
Virginia Reno,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
3/3/2003
|
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Analysis of the 2003 report of the Trustees of the Social Security Administration, including projected income, expenditures, and long range solvency projections.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Lifetime Social Security and Medicare Benefits
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C. Eugene Steuerle,
Urban Institute,
3/1/2003
|
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Assessing the lifetime package of retirement benefits—including Medicare—gives the most comprehensive picture of what government is being asked to provide for the elderly.
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Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
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| Pension Reform and Economic Performance in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s
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Richard Disney,
Sarah Smith,
Carl Emmerson,
National Bureau of Economic Relations,
3/1/2003
|
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The effects of Britain's pension reform during the 1980s when, for the first time, individuals were permitted to opt out of part of the social security program into individual retirement saving accounts.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| Children’s Stake in Social Security
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Catherine Hill,
Virginia Reno,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
2/1/2003
|
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While Social Security is best known as a retirement program, it is also an important source of income for millions of children.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| Social Security Reform: The Use of Private Securities and the Need for Economic Growth
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Congressional Budget Office,
1/3/2003
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The use of private versus public securities, the creation of personal accounts, the scheduling of future tax increases, and reliance on future borrowing by government are not options that will predictably build the resources to meet retirment claims, and some could be harmful.
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Link to Report
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| A Summary of Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach
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Peter R. Orszag,
Peter A. Diamond,
1/1/2003
|
|
A summary of the comprehensive 2003 plan for saving Social Security without diverting revenue into individual accounts.
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Link to Summary (PDF)
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| Feasibility of Social Security Individual Accounts
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Francis X. Cavanaugh,
AARP,
9/1/2002
|
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Proposals to model a system of private Social Security accounts on the federal Thrift Savings Program fail to account for a number of obstacles.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| Retirement Out of Reach
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|
Christian Weller,
Economic Policy Institute,
8/1/2002
|
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Financial markets will not generate adequate retirement income for the average household.
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Link to Issue Brief
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| Defined Contributions from Workers, Guaranteed Benefits for Bankers: The World Bank's Approach to Social Security Reform
|
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Dean Baker,
Debayani Kar,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
7/16/2002
|
|
In the last decade the World Bank has actively promoted the partial or complete replacement of public Social Security systems with systems of individual accounts.
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Link to Paper
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| The Effect of Using Price Indexation Instead of Wage Indexation in Calculating the Initial Social Security Benefit
|
|
AARP,
6/1/2002
|
|
AARP examines the effect of price indexation on future workers’ initial benefits and replacement rates.
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Link to Brief (PDF)
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| Social Security Privatization: A False Promise for Women
|
|
Amy E. Gotwals,
Emily Stewart,
Older Women's League (OWL),
5/8/2002
|
|
Privatization schemes only mimic the Social Security's very real promises and guarantees for older women.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
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| The Reformed Pension Systems in Latin America
|
|
Carlos Vidal-Melia,
Jose E. Devesa-Carpio,
The World Bank,
5/1/2002
|
|
Changes to pensions systems pioneered in 1981 in Chile are spreading to other countries in Latin America.
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Link to Paper (PDF)
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| Retirement Insecurity
|
|
Edward N. Wolff,
Economic Policy Institute,
5/1/2002
|
|
Today's older workers will live longer and spend more time in retirement than workers in any previous generation. Will households have enough income to afford a decent standard of living in retirement?
|
Link to Book Excerpt
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| The Role of Social Security Privatization in Argentina's Economic Crisis
|
|
Mark Weisbrot,
Dean Baker,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
4/16/2002
|
|
Argentina's decision to privatize Social Security in 1994 helped to touch off a financial crisis, which ultimately forced much more draconian cuts in Social Security than ever would have been contemplated in 1994.
|
Link to Paper
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|
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| The Global Retirement Crisis: The Threat to World Stability and What To Do About It
|
|
Richard Jackson,
Center for Strategic and International Studies,
4/1/2002
|
|
As the report explains, global aging is the result of two long-term trends: falling birthrates and rising life spans. Over the next few decades, it will restructure the economy, reshape the family, and even rearrange the world order.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
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| How Important Are Private Pensions?
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Annika Sunden,
Elizabeth Lidstone,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
2/1/2002
|
|
A short discussion gauging the role private pensions play in Americans' retirement security.
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| Estimates of Financial Effects for Three Models Developed by the President's Commission
|
|
Stephen C. Goss,
Alice H. Wade,
Social Security Administration,
1/31/2002
|
|
Official estimate of the Commission's models from the office of the chief actuary of the Social Security program.
|
Link to Memo
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|
|
| Pooling, Savings, and Prevention: Mitigating the Risk of Old Age Poverty in Chile
|
|
Truman G. Packard,
The World Bank,
1/1/2002
|
|
This ways in which Chilean households and individuals respond to mitigating the risk of poverty in old age.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Performance of the Funded Pension Systems in Latin America
|
|
Juan Yermo,
The World Bank,
1/1/2002
|
|
Questioning the claim that the introduction of private sector management fosters cost-cutting competition and innovation and helps to insulate pension systems from political interference.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
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| The Pension System and the Crisis in Argentina: Learning the Lessons
|
|
Rafael Rofman,
The World Bank,
1/1/2002
|
|
The serious economic crisis that began in 2001 and its fiscal and financial effects intensified the problems that the pension system already had.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Strengthening Social Security and Creating Personal Wealth for All Americans
|
|
Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
Richard Parsons,
President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security,
12/1/2001
|
|
In this report, the Commission argues that Social Security will be strengthened if restructured to include a system of private accounts.
|
Link to Report (PDF)
|
|
|
| Social Security Program's Role in Helping Ensure Income Adequacy
|
|
Various Authors,
General Accounting Office,
11/1/2001
|
|
The outlook for future Social Security benefit levels and income adequacy generally will depend on how the program’s long-term financing imbalance is addressed.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
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|
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| Retirement Wealth and Its Adequacy: Assessing the Impact of Changes in the Age of Eligibility for Full Social Security Benefits
|
|
Catherine P. Montalto,
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
9/1/2001
|
|
Assessing whether the accumulated retirement wealth of pre-retirees will be adequate to cover needs during retirement, and how variation in age of eligibility for Social Security benefits affects adequacy.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Americans’ Attitudes Toward Social Security: Popular Claims Meet Hard Data
|
|
Lawrence R. Jacobs,
Fay Lomax Cook,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
3/1/2001
|
|
Examining three common claims about public attitudes towards Social Security, drawing on opinion surveys conducted over the last two decades.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Social Security: The Phony Crisis
|
|
Dean Baker,
Mark Weisbrot,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
1/9/2001
|
|
There is no basis for the widespread belief that the program needs to be restructured, privatized, or "fixed" at all.
|
Order Online
|
|
|
| Administrative Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform
|
|
John B. Shoven ,
University of Chicago Press,
9/1/2000
|
|
A comprehensive analysis of the issues involved in administering a system of essentially private social security accounts.
|
Order Online
|
|
|
| Social Security: Long Term Financing and Reform
|
|
L. Randall Wray,
Center for Full Employment and Price Stability,
8/1/2000
|
|
An overview of the history of Social Security and issues related to reform.
|
Link to Paper
|
|
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| What Stock Market Returns to Expect for the Future?
|
|
Peter A. Diamond,
Social Security Administration,
7/1/2000
|
|
Is a projected 7 percent return on stocks consistent with the value of today's stock market and slower economic growth?
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| Governor Bush's Individual Account Proposal:A Reassessment Using Realistic Stock Return Projections
|
|
Various Authors,
Center for Economic and Policy Research,
6/14/2000
|
|
This study found that virtually everyone would end up with a lower retirement income under Governor Bush's proposal, than they would under the current social security program.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| The Impact of Social Security On Child Poverty
|
|
Leslie A. Dunbar,
National Urban League,
5/12/2000
|
|
Without Social Security benefits, not only would there be more children living in poverty, their degree of poverty would be much greater.
|
Link to Report
|
|
|
| True Security: Rethinking American Social Insurance
|
|
Michael J. Graetz,
Jerry L. Mashaw,
Yale University Press,
10/1/1999
|
|
Social insurance in the United States--including the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare, Medicaid, and disability insurance programs that were added later--may be the greatest triumph of American domestic policy. But true security has not been achieved.
|
Link to Book
|
|
|
| Rethinking Pension Reform: Ten Myths About Social Security Systems
|
|
Peter R. Orszag,
Joseph E. Stiglitz,
The World Bank,
9/14/1999
|
|
Ten myths in current thinking on global public pension reform.
|
Link to Paper
|
|
|
| The Budget Surplus and Social Security
|
|
The Federal Reserve Board,
2/9/1999
|
|
The chair of the 1994-1996 Quadrennial Advisory Council on Social Security testifies on Social Security reform.
|
Link to Testimony
|
|
|
| Administering Individual Accounts in Social Security
|
|
Lawrence Thompson,
Urban Institute,
2/1/1999
|
|
There is substantial variation in the financing, management, and structure of what proponents claim to be individual Social Security accounts.
|
Link to Paper
|
|
|
| Social Security Privatization: Experiences Abroad
|
|
Various Authors,
Congressional Budget Office,
1/1/1999
|
|
Review of pension systems in countries that have implemented policies either replacing public pension systems with mandatory personal retirement accounts or encouraging workers to opt out of existing public pension systems.
|
Link to Paper
|
|
|
| Can We Afford Social Security When Baby Boomers Retire?
|
|
Virginia Reno,
Kathryn Olson,
National Academy of Social Insurance,
11/1/1998
|
|
There is much discussion of the rising cost of Social Security and the declining number of workers to support the Baby Boomers when they retire. How affordable is Social Security projected to be then?
|
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Future of Social Security for this Generation and the Next, Testimony before the House Committee on Ways and Means
|
|
United States House of Representatives,
6/18/1998
|
|
The former director of the Federal Thrift Savings Program argues that the program's structure would be incompatible with a far reaching system of private accounts.
|
Link to Testimony
|
|
|
| Investing the Social Security Trust Funds in Equities
|
|
Alicia Munnell,
Pierluigi Balduzzi,
AARP,
3/1/1998
|
|
Investment of the Social Security trust fund reserves in corporate equities is, on balance, a reasonable and feasible strategy.
|
Link to Paper (PDF)
|
|
|
| The Chile Con
|
|
Stephen J. Kay,
The American Prospect,
7/1/1997
|
|
The Chilean solution has captured the imagination of free-market believers the world over. But a closer look suggests that Chile is no model for the United States.
|
Link to Article
|
|
|
| Testimony Before the Subcommitee on Social Secuirty of the House Committee on Ways and Means
|
|
United States House of Representatives,
3/6/1997
|
|
Robert Ball, commissioner of Social Security from 1962 to 1973, argues that relatively modest changes are needed to fix Social Security.
|
Link to Testimony
|
|
|
| 1935 Social Security Act
|
|
Social Security Administration,
8/14/1935
|
|
Complete text of the original Social Security Act, signed into law August 14, 1935.
|
Link to Legislation
|
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