Risk Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226092569
Total Pages : 509 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis Risk Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform by : John Y. Campbell

Download or read book Risk Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform written by John Y. Campbell and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-02-15 with total page 509 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our current social security system operates on a pay-as-you-go basis; benefits are paid almost entirely out of current revenues. As the ratio of retirees to taxpayers increases, concern about the high costs of providing benefits in a pay-as-you-go system has led economists to explore other options. One involves "prefunding," in which a person's withholdings are invested in financial instruments, such as stocks and bonds, the eventual returns from which would fund his or her retirement. The risks such a system would introduce—such as the volatility in the market prices of investment assets—are the focus of this offering from the NBER. Exploring the issues involved in measuring risk and developing models to reflect the risks of various investment-based systems, economists evaluate the magnitude of the risks that both retirees and taxpayers would assume. The insights that emerge show that the risk is actually moderate relative to the improved return, as well as being balanced by the ability of an investment-based system to adapt to differences in individual preferences and conditions.

The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226241890
Total Pages : 479 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (262 download)

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Book Synopsis The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform by : Martin Feldstein

Download or read book The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform written by Martin Feldstein and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social security is the largest and perhaps the most popular program run by the federal government. Given the projected increase in both individual life expectancy and sheer number of retirees, however, the current system faces an eventual overload. Alternative proposals have emerged, ranging from reductions in future benefits to a rise in taxrevenue to various forms of investment-based personal retirement accounts. As this volume suggests, the distributional consequences of these proposals are substantially different and may disproportionately affect those groups who depend on social security to avoid poverty in old age. Together, these studies persuasively show that appropriately designed investment-based social security reforms can effectively reduce the long-term burden of an aging society on future taxpayers, increase the expected future income of retirees, and mitigate poverty rates among the elderly.

Administrative Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226754812
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Administrative Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform by : John B. Shoven

Download or read book Administrative Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform written by John B. Shoven and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social security reform in the United States continues to be a pressing and contentious issue, with advocates touting some form of a centralized or a privatized system of personal accounts. In general, centralized systems offer low administrative costs, but are potentially subject to political mismanagement and appropriation. Privatized account systems, on the other hand, offer higher yields with more flexibility, but may prove too expensive and logistically daunting to implement. Uniting learned and outspoken proponents on both sides of the debate, this volume provides the first comprehensive analysis of the issues involved in administering a system of essentially private social security accounts. The contributors together come to startlingly similar conclusions, generally agreeing that a centralized system of accounts could deliver the benefits of privatization in a feasible and cost-efficient way by accessing administrative mechanisms already in existence. This is perhaps the most far-reaching synthesis yet envisioned of functional and implementable social security reform.

Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226076504
Total Pages : 473 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment by : Jeffrey R. Brown

Download or read book Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment written by Jeffrey R. Brown and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-12-15 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment analyzes the changing economic and demographic environment in which social insurance programs that benefit elderly households will operate. It also explores how these ongoing trends will affect future beneficiaries, under both the current social security program and potential reform options. In this volume, an esteemed group of economists probes the challenge posed to Social Security by an aging population. The researchers examine trends in private sector retirement saving and health care costs, as well as the uncertain nature of future demographic, economic, and social trends—including marriage and divorce rates and female participation in the labor force. Recognizing the ambiguity of the environment in which the Social Security system must operate and evolve, this landmark book explores factors that policymakers must consider in designing policies that are resilient enough to survive in an economically and demographically uncertain society.

Social Security

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 122 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Security by : Martin S. Feldstein

Download or read book Social Security written by Martin S. Feldstein and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper, a forthcoming chapter in the Handbook of Public Economics, reviews the theoretical and empirical issues dealing with Social Security pensions. The first part of the paper discusses pure pay-as-you-go plans. It considers the effects of introducing such a plan on the present value of consumption, the optimal level of benefits in such plans, and the emprical research on the effects of pay-as-you-go pension systems on labor supply and saving. The second part of the paper discusses the transition to investment-based systems, analyzing the effect on the present value of consumption of such a transition and considering such issues as the distributional effects and risk associated with such systems.

Individual Risk and Intergenerational Risk Sharing in an Investment-based Social Security System

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Individual Risk and Intergenerational Risk Sharing in an Investment-based Social Security System by : Martin S. Feldstein

Download or read book Individual Risk and Intergenerational Risk Sharing in an Investment-based Social Security System written by Martin S. Feldstein and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Saving Social Security

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Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 9780815796237
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (962 download)

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Book Synopsis Saving Social Security by : Peter A. Diamond

Download or read book Saving Social Security written by Peter A. Diamond and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2003-12-04 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While everyone agrees that Social Security is a vital and necessary government program, there have been widely divergent plans for reforming it. Peter A. Diamond and Peter R. Orszag, two of the nation's foremost economists, propose a reform plan that would rescue the program both from its projected financial problems and from those who would destroy the program in order to save it. vi ng Social Security's's strategy balances benefit and revenue adjustments, following the precedent set by the last major Social Security reform in the early 1980s. The authors' proposal restores long-term balance and sustainable solvency to the program without imposing additional burdens on the rest of the budget. Further, it protects disability and young survivor benefits and strengthens Social Security's protections for low earners and widows. Most important, the plan preserves the program's core social insurance role by providing a base-level of assured income to American workers and their families in time of need. To better understand the accomplishments and financial problems of Social Security, Diamond and Orszag provide background on the program, as well as on the causes of the long-term deficit. They suggest ways in which various alternative reform plans should be evaluated and explain the shortcomings of proposals to replace part of Social Security with individual accounts. Saving Social Security is essential reading for policymakers involved in reform, analysts, students, and all those interested in the fate of this safeguard of American lives.

Accumulated Pension Collars

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Accumulated Pension Collars by : Martin S. Feldstein

Download or read book Accumulated Pension Collars written by Martin S. Feldstein and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper shows how a new type of derivative product that could be provided by private financial markets could in principle be used to guarantee that an investment-based Social Security reform provides at least the level of real retirement income that is projected in current Social Security rules. In effect, future retirees could purchase a put option' that guarantees that the future retirement benefit will not fall below the level projected in current Social Security law or some other chosen level. To pay for this guarantee, they would agree to give up the part of the annuity payments which exceeds a given level, effectively selling a call option on the stream of payments. This market-based approach could be completely voluntary, leaving each individual to decide what level of guarantee he wants. The higher the minimum guarantee that the individual chooses, the more of the potentially higher returns he must give up. The financial market can thus tailor each individual's product to his own risk preferences. Alternatively, the government might require that any product that is sold as part of the investment-based Social Security reform must include at least some such market-based guarantee. Our analysis calculates some of the tradeoffs that could be provided in today's financial markets. We show that it is feasible to protect future benefits equal to those projected in current law with a combination of the current payroll tax rate and Personal Retirement Account savings equal to 2.5 percent of covered earnings. Raising the savings rate to 3.0 percent increases substantially the amount of the return that the individual can keep, raising it to 145 percent of the currently projected level of benefits. Reducing the guarantee level to 90 percent of the projected future benefits would increase this upside potential to 150 percent of the currently projected level of benefits with a 2.5 percent saving rate and 195 percent of the currently projected benefits with a 3.0 percent saving rate.

Social Security and Its Discontents

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Publisher : Cato Institute
ISBN 13 : 9781930865556
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (655 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Security and Its Discontents by : Michael Tanner

Download or read book Social Security and Its Discontents written by Michael Tanner and published by Cato Institute. This book was released on 2004 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tanner (Cato Project on Social Security Choice) brings together work by leaders in Social Security reform, examining problems of the current system and offering proposals for reform. Contributors in economics, law, and philosophy, many affiliated with the Cato Institute, examine aspects of the problem related to issues such as property rights, the impact of Social Security reform on low-income workers, and how stock market declines affect the reform debate. They advocate allowing younger workers to privately invest their Social Security taxes through individual accounts.

Funding Social Security

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521652456
Total Pages : 201 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (216 download)

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Book Synopsis Funding Social Security by : Laurence S. Seidman

Download or read book Funding Social Security written by Laurence S. Seidman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1999-04-13 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a serious consideration of the worldwide debate on social security reform.

Prospects for Social Security Reform

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Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 9780812234794
Total Pages : 446 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (347 download)

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Book Synopsis Prospects for Social Security Reform by : Olivia S. Mitchell

Download or read book Prospects for Social Security Reform written by Olivia S. Mitchell and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 1999-01-29 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States social security system is the nation's largest social insurance program. As such, it has a far-reaching impact throughout the economy, influencing not only old-age economic security but also many behaviors, including corporate employment policy, retirement patterns, and personal saving. In the past, the system's universal coverage and generous benefits ensured popular support to a degree enjoyed by no other form of "big government" social spending. Yet over two-thirds of all Americans today believe that the social security system will face bankruptcy by the time they retire. The question of social security reform—how to reform the system or whether the system needs reform at all—is the subject of heated debate at all levels of government, in the media, and among workers, pensioners, and employers. Prospects for Social Security Reform informs the debate by exploring why the system is at a crossroads today and what to do about it. Contributors detail the size and nature of the problem, explain views of key "stakeholders" regarding reform options, and report new evidence on how reform might affect the economy. Research findings and public opinion polls are analyzed, as are lessons from other countries experimenting with new ways to deliver old-age benefit promises. No other volume includes as diverse and expert a set of perspectives on reform and privatization as those gathered here from economists, actuaries, employers, investment managers, and representatives of organized labor. Among its chapters is the path-breaking study "Social Security Money's Worth," the 1999 winner of the TIAA-CREF's Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security.

The Distributional Effects of an Investment-based Social Security System

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 94 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Distributional Effects of an Investment-based Social Security System by : Martin S. Feldstein

Download or read book The Distributional Effects of an Investment-based Social Security System written by Martin S. Feldstein and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper we study the distributional impact of a change from the existing pay-as-you-go Social Security system to one that combines both pay-as-you-go and investment-based elements. Critics of investment-based plans have been concerned that such plans might reduce the retirement income of low-paid workers or of surviving spouses relative to what they would get from Social Security, and might therefore increase the extent of poverty among the aged. Our analysis in this paper shows that this is generally not the case, even in plans that make no special effort to maintain or increase redistribution. Our principal finding is that virtually all of the demographic groups that we examine would receive higher average benefits under a mixed system with an investment-based component than the benefits that they would receive under current Social Security rules. There would also be a smaller share of individuals with benefits below the poverty line even though the total cost of funding the mixed system -- a three percent saving contribution rather than a six percent rise in the tax rate -- is substantially lower than that of funding the pay-as-you-go system. Our individual-level data permit us to go beyond comparing group means to analyze the full distribution of the benefits that individuals would receive under the two different systems. These comparisons show that the overwhelming majority of individuals would have higher benefits with the investment-based system than with the pure pay-as-you-go system. The relatively small number of individuals who would receive less from the investment-based system is further reduced when the effects of the Supplementary Security Income program is taken into account. These basic conclusions remain true even if the future rate of return in the investment-based component of the mixed system is substantially less than past experience implies.

Privatizing Social Security

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226241823
Total Pages : 484 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (262 download)

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Book Synopsis Privatizing Social Security by : Martin Feldstein

Download or read book Privatizing Social Security written by Martin Feldstein and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents the most important work to date on one of the pressing policy issues of the moment: the privatization of social security. Although social security is facing enormous fiscal pressure in the face of an aging population, there has been relatively little published on the fundamentals of essential reform through privatization. Privatizing Social Security fills this void by studying the methods and problems involved in shifting from the current system to one based on mandatory saving in individual accounts. "Timely and important. . . . [Privatizing Social Security] presents a forceful case for a radical shift from the existing unfunded, pay-as-you-go single national program to a mandatory funded program with individual savings accounts. . . . An extensive analysis of how a privatized plan would work in the United States is supplemented with the experiences of five other countries that have privatized plans." —Library Journal "[A] high-powered collection of essays by top experts in the field."—Timothy Taylor, Public Interest

Making Sense of Social Security Reform

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226751171
Total Pages : 190 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Making Sense of Social Security Reform by : Daniel Shaviro

Download or read book Making Sense of Social Security Reform written by Daniel Shaviro and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Social Security Act of 1935 must be counted among the most monumental pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. Today, sixty-five years after its enactment, public support for Social Security remains extremely strong. At the same time, there have been reports that Social Security is in grave danger of financial collapse, and numerous groups across the political spectrum have agitated for its reform. The president has put forward proposals to rescue Social Security, conservatives argue for its privatization, and liberals advocate increases in its funding from surplus tax revenues. But what is the average person to make of all this? How many Americans know where the money for Social Security benefits really comes from, or who wins and loses from the system's overall operations? Few people understand the current Social Security system in even its broadest outlines. And yet Social Security reform is ranked among the most important social issues of our time. With Making Sense of Social Security Reform, Daniel Shaviro makes an important contribution to the public understanding of the issues involved in reforming Social Security. His book clearly and straightforwardly describes the current system and the pressures that have been brought to bear upon it, before dissecting and evaluating the various reform proposals. Accessible to anyone who has an interest in the issue, Shaviro's new work is unique in offering a balanced, nonpartisan account.

Social Security Reform

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521844956
Total Pages : 394 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (449 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Security Reform by : Robin Brooks

Download or read book Social Security Reform written by Robin Brooks and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-04-04 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the underlying economic issues of the debate over public pension system reform.

The Transition to Investment-based Social Security when Portfolio Returns and Capital Profitability are Uncertain

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 80 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Transition to Investment-based Social Security when Portfolio Returns and Capital Profitability are Uncertain by : Martin S. Feldstein

Download or read book The Transition to Investment-based Social Security when Portfolio Returns and Capital Profitability are Uncertain written by Martin S. Feldstein and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper we study the transition from a pay-as-you-go system of Social Security pensions to an investment-based system in an economy in which portfolio returns and capital profitability are both uncertain. The paper extends earlier studies by Feldstein and Samwick that modeled the transition process in a nonstochastic environment and by Feldstein and Ranguelova that examined the implication of portfolio risk after the transition to an investment-based system has been completed. We analyze transitions to a mixed system that maintains the current 12.4 percent pay-as-you-go tax rate as well as to a system that is completely investment-based. We model intergenerational guarantees and assess the risk of such guarantees to taxpayers. We find that transitions to either a completely investment-based system or a mixed system that maintains current law benefits can be done with little additional saving in the early years (a maximum of three percent) and substantially lower combinations of taxes and saving deposits in the later years. The extra risk to retirees and/or taxpayers is relatively small, making the investment-based plans preferable to a pure pay-as-you-go system for reasonable degrees of risk aversion.

Reforming Social Security

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.E/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Reforming Social Security by : Alicia Haydock Munnell

Download or read book Reforming Social Security written by Alicia Haydock Munnell and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: