The retirement challenge : what's wrong with America's system and a sensible way to fix it Cover Image

Book

The retirement challenge : what's wrong with America's system and a sensible way to fix it / Martin Neil Baily, Benjamin H. Harris.

Baily, Martin Neil, (author.). Harris, Benjamin H., (author.).

Summary:

"America's retirement system has serious problems. While it works well for some retirees, millions of others don't have the sound retirement they have worked decades to secure. Roughly 40 percent of today's 4 trillion dollar federal budget is devoted to supporting retirees, which will grow to roughly half over the next decade -- imperiling the sustainability of the whole system. The system is out of date. It reflects the America of a bygone age -- an era in which company or union pensions provided middle-class families a decent standard of living in retirement. In America today, however, private pensions have mostly disappeared, Social Security is threatened to go insolvent, people are living longer, and health care costs continue to rise. Poorer retirees now must choose between buying enough to eat and their prescription drugs. In The Retirement Challenge, influential former White House economists Martin Neil Baily and Benjamin H. Harris explore America's outdated retirement system and explain how improving retirement requires changes by families, employers, and policymakers alike. Households need to save more, get smarter about their finances, and trade part of their 401(k) balances for insurance products. Companies need to take a more active role in their workers' retirements. And lawmakers need to amend the tax code, Social Security, and a host of other programs. Despite today's wide political divide, policymakers from both parties can come together around changes that will promote a stable retirement. This book shows that these changes do not represent a radical overhaul. If families, businesses, and policymakers do their part, everyone -- current retirees and future generations -- can enjoy a much more secure and prosperous retirement." -- Jacket flap.

Record details

ISBN: 9780197639276
ISBN: 0197639275
Physical Description: xviii, 280 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Publisher: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2023]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-269) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

1. Overview -- Retirement: from whence it came -- Needed: a new paradigm for retirement -- The agenda for families, companies, and policymakers -- We can do this -- 2. Retirement: how are we doing? -- Defined-benefit pensions and defined contribution (401(k)-type) plans -- Assessing how well Americans are prepared for retirement -- The critical role of uncertainty -- Summing up -- 3. Retirement and economic growth -- The impact of slow economic growth on retirement policies and decisions -- The potential impact of retirement saving on economic growth -- Strong economic growth has been elusive -- Investment benefits both workers and the economy -- Funding and investment increase -- 4. Entitlements: the cornerstone of retirement -- Social security -- Medicare and Medicaid -- Trust fund woes -- Entitlements in the larger budget discussion -- Worrying, or not, about deficits and debt -- What's to come for entitlement programs -- 5. Working longer -- How do people decide when to retire? -- Are people making good retirement decisions? -- How much are adults working, and why? -- Do changing incentives help explain the labor force trends of older workers? -- Making the right retirement decisions -- 6. Why is saving so hard? -- Barriers to saving -- Unequal tax breaks for saving -- 7. Transitioning to retirement in a changing labor market -- Part-time work among older workers -- Paths to retirement -- Self-employment at older ages -- Can internet platforms help older people find work? -- Older workers must understand the changing labor market -- Can phased retirement improve health? -- 8. How annuities can mitigate uncertainty and improve retirement -- Annuity products -- Economists value annuities; consumers do not -- Behavioral biases against annuities -- Longevity annuities -- The tax implications -- 9. How are families planning for end-of-life care? -- Long-term care and the population that needs it -- Long-term care: its costs and financing -- Market failures and distortions -- Toward solutions -- 10. Reverse mortgages -- The reverse mortgage market -- The HECM program -- The reverse mortgage market over time -- Reverse mortgages: pros and cons -- 11. How to improve retirement accounts -- A retirement account vision -- Reforms to improve retirement accounts -- The need for action -- 12. Improving opportunities for older workers -- Financial incentives to work longer -- Changing attitudes toward retirement, older worker productivity -- Strengthen age discrimination protections -- Retrain older workers -- 13. Reforming private insurance markets -- Why reform private insurance markets? -- Reverse mortgages -- Annuities -- Long-term care -- 14. A vision for a new retirement paradigm -- The more important steps to improve retirement -- Why alternative proposals will not work -- Why our vision for retirement should prevail.