The United States faces a serious retirement challenge. Many of today's workers will lack the resources to retire at traditional ages and maintain their standard of living in retirement. Solving the problem is a major challenge in today's environment in which risk and responsibility have shifted from government and employers to individuals. For this reason, Charles D. Ellis, Alicia H. Munnell, and Andrew D. Eschtruth have written this concise guide for anyone concerned about their own - and the nation's - retirement security. Falling Short is grounded in sound research yet written in a highly accessible style. The authors provide a vivid picture of the retirement crisis in America. They offer the necessary context for understanding the nature and size of the retirement income shortfall, which is caused by both increasing income needs-due to longer lifespans and rising health costs-and decreasing support from Social Security and employer-sponsored pension plans. The solutions are to work longer and save more by building on the existing retirement system. To work longer, individuals should plan to stay in the labor force until age 70 if possible. To save more, policymakers should shore up Social Security's long-term finances; make all 401(k) plans fully automatic, with workers allowed to opt out; and ensure that everyone has access to a retirement savings plan. Individuals should also recognize that their house is a source of saving, which they can tap in retirement through downsizing or a reverse mortgage.

Falling Short: The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It

Business & Money

Munnell, Alicia H.

ELLIS, Charles D.

Eschtruth, Andrew D.

Economics

Oxford University Press

Daily headlines warn American workers that their retirement years may be far from golden. The main components of the retirement income system—Social Security and employer-provided pensions and health insurance—are in decline while the amount of income needed for a comfortable retirement continues to rise.
 In Working Longer, Alicia Munnell and Steven Sass suggest a simple solution to this problem: postponing retirement by two to four years. By following their advice, the average worker retiring in 2030 can be as well off as today's retirees. Implementing this solution on a national scale, however, may not be simple.
 Working Longer investigates the prospects for moving the average retirement age from 63, the current figure, to 66. Munnell and Sass ask whether future generations will be healthy enough to work beyond the current retirement age and whether older men and women want to work. They examine companies' incentives to employ older works and ask what government can do to promote continued participation in the workforce. Finally, they consider the challenge of ensuring a secure retirement for low-wage workers and those who are unable to continue to work.
 The retirement system faces very real challenges. But together, workers, employers, and the government can keep this vital piece of the American dream alive.

Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge

Sass, Steven A.

Brookings Institution Press

In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Elected officials, academic experts, and the media alike have pointed to funding shortfalls with alarm, expressing concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause.
Alicia H. Munnell draws on both her practical experience and her research to provide a broad perspective on the challenge of state and local pensions. She shows that the story is big and complicated and cannot be viewed through a narrow prism such as accounting methods or the role of unions.
By examining the diversity of the public plan universe, Munnell debunks the notion that all plans are in trouble. In fact, she finds that while a few plans are basket cases, many are functioning reasonably well.
Munnell's analysis concludes that the plans in serious trouble need a major overhaul. But even the relatively healthy plans face three challenges ahead: an excessive concentration of plan assets in equities; the risk that steep benefit cuts for new hires will harm workforce quality; and the constraints plans face in adjusting future benefits for current employees. Here, Munnell proposes solutions that preserve the main strengths of state and local pensions while promoting needed reforms.

State and Local Pensions: What Now?

In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Elected officials, academic experts, and the media alike have pointed to funding shortfalls with alarm, expressing concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause.
 Alicia H. Munnell draws on both her practical experience and her research to provide a broad perspective on the challenge of state and local pensions. She shows that the story is big and complicated and cannot be viewed through a narrow prism such as accounting methods or the role of unions.
 By examining the diversity of the public plan universe, Munnell debunks the notion that all plans are in trouble. In fact, she finds that while a few plans are basket cases, many are functioning reasonably well.
 Munnell's analysis concludes that the plans in serious trouble need a major overhaul. But even the relatively healthy plans face three challenges ahead: an excessive concentration of plan assets in equities; the risk that steep benefit cuts for new hires will harm workforce quality; and the constraints plans face in adjusting future benefits for current employees. Here, Munnell proposes solutions that preserve the main strengths of state and local pensions while promoting needed reforms.

This book, part of the Studies in Social Economics series, examines old age pensions in the United States. Alicia H. Munnell explores the factors that have influenced the growth of private pension plans.

The Economics of Private Pensions (Studies in Social Economics)

From a modest beginning in 1935 to an income replacement scheme for workers in commerce and industry, the social security system has grown to cover 90 percent of working Americans. It now pays $78 billion a year in benefits and is obligated to pay $4 trillion in future retirement benefits to workers now covered. With a projected tax rate of 30 percent of gross wages by the year 2050 to meet its obligations under current law, the system, in the author's words, is at "the most crucial juncture of its forty-year life."This comprehensive review and analysis, the thirteenth in the Brookings series of Studies in Social Economics, discusses social security in relation to other sources of retirement income and clarifies its financing problem, benefit structure, and ambivalent goals. It deals with two main financing questions. First, will the payroll tax yield the revenue needed to pay benefits as the retired population rises as a fraction of the working population? Second, is the regressive social security tax really the best source of revenue for a system with welfare components such as the minimum benefit and dependents' benefits? Though such benefits are viewed as progressive, they are not paid according to need. They meet neither the income redistribution requirements nor the individual equity goals of the social security program. The author provides a comprehensive account of the benefit structure and clarifies its relation not only to the basic goals of social security but also to the country's three-tiered system of income security. She offers recommendations for eliminating "an irrational and correctable feature of the benefit formula," for lowering the dependency ratio, and, most important, for a definition of goals.

The Future of Social Security (Studies in Social Economics)

Personal Finance

As the baby boom begins to withdraw from the labor force, ensuring a secure retirement income becomes an increasingly important issue, the number of people over age 65 is expected to double by 2030. That trend will continue, accompanied by worries about stock market volatility, corporate malfeasance, a rapidly changing economy, and the viability of Social Security. In Coming Up Short, two experts on retirement policy analyze 401(k) plans, the fastest-growing type of employer-sponsored pensions and a vital source of retirement income for the American middle class. Alicia Munnell and Annika Sunden chronicle the development of 401(k) plans, now the dominant form of private pensions. In accessible language, they explain how such plans work and discuss their popularity. For employees, these plans are appealing becuase they have more control over their own retirement funds, and the plans are portable. For employers, the plans are generally less costly than defined benefit plans. Despite those advantages, there are some significant downsides to 401(k) plans. These plans shift all the risk and responsibility to employees, who must decide whether to join, how much to contribute, how to invest, whether to "cash out" when changing jobs, and how to manage their nest egg in retirement. These are difficult decisions, and while in theory 401(k)s could be an effective savings vehicle for retirement, in practice many people make mistakes at every step along the way. Com ing Up Short discusses why these mistakes are made and proposes various reforms to ensure that the aging population will have adequate retirement income. Comprehensive and up-to-date, Coming Up Short is an essential resource on 401(k) plans for financial service professionals, policymakers, academics, and individuals planning for their own retirement.

Coming Up Short: The Challenge of 401(k) Plans

Sundén, Annika

Daily headlines warn American workers that their retirement years may be far from golden. The main components of the retirement income system —Social Security and employer-provided pensions and health insurance —are in decline while the amount of income needed for a comfortable retirement continues to rise.
In Working Longer, Alicia Munnell and Steven Sass suggest a simple solution to this problem: postponing retirement by two to four years. By following their advice, the average worker retiring in 2030 can be as well off as today's retirees. Implementing this solution on a national scale, however, may not be simple.
 Working Longer investigates the prospects for moving the average retirement age from 63, the current figure, to 66. Munnell and Sass ask whether future generations will be healthy enough to work beyond the current retirement age and whether older men and women want to work. They examine companies' incentives to employ older works and ask what government can do to promote continued participation in the workforce. Finally, they consider the challenge of ensuring a secure retirement for low-wage workers and those who are unable to continue to work.
The retirement system faces very real challenges. But together, workers, employers, and the government can keep this vital piece of the American dream alive.

Social Security and the Stock Market: How the Pursuit of Market Magic Shapes the System

Investing

W E Upjohn Inst for

The U.S. retirement income system faces an enormous challenge as the Baby Boom generation nears retirement age. Social Security faces a long-term shortfall, defined benefit plans have become few and far between, and 401 (k) plans have failed to yield the accumulations that many people thought they would. How will future retirees get by? Many observers suggest that equities would help solve this problem. In this book from the Upjohn Institute, Alicia H. Munnell and Steven A. Sass explore the use of equities as a means of solving Social Security's financing problems. While including equities in some form promises the potential for higher yields that could keep the system afloat, the use of equities also poses a host of challenges that could dramatically alter the structure of Social Security. Munnell and Sass identify these challenges and their implications for the U.S. retirement income system. They base their findings on experiences that three nations (the UK, Australia, and Canada) have had with the use of equities as part of their retirement systems and point out the successes and setbacks that occurred in each country as a result. Overall, this highly readable book will appeal to anyone looking for answers to the financing problems facing Social Security and the rest of the U.S. retirement income system.

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Munnell, Alicia H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Munnell, Alicia H.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Munnell, Alicia H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Falling Short: The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It

Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge

State and Local Pensions: What Now?

State and Local Pensions: What Now?

The Economics of Private Pensions (Studies in Social Economics)

The Future of Social Security (Studies in Social Economics)

Coming Up Short: The Challenge of 401(k) Plans

Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge

Social Security and the Stock Market: How the Pursuit of Market Magic Shapes the System

Social Security and the Stock Market: How the Pursuit of Market Magic Shapes the System