Under Social Security, married individuals are entitled to a retired worker benefit based on their own earnings and/or to a spousal benefit equal to one half of their spouse’s benefit claimed at the Full Retirement Age (currently 66). If a married individual claims before the Full Retirement...

When to claim Social Security is one of the most important decisions Americans make when approaching retirement. Currently, retirees can choose between claiming at the Full Retirement Age and receiving full benefits, claiming as early as age 62 but receiving reduced benefits, or delaying...

With the current financial crisis wreaking havoc on retirement savings, many older people have had to reassess their retirement plans – they may decide to work longer or, if already retired, to re-enter the workforce. For those currently in the labor force, working longer increases monthly...

The financial crisis has dramatically demonstrated how a collapse in equity prices can decimate retirement accounts. The crisis highlights the fragility of existing 401(k) plans as the only supplement to Social Security and has sparked proposals to reform the retirement income system. One...

The financial crisis has sparked proposals to reform the retirement income system. One component of such a system could be a new tier of retirement accounts. These accounts would augment declining Social Security replacement rates for low-wage workers and provide a buffer of security for middle-...

Since the mid-1960s, the median retirement age for men has declined from 66 to 63. If Americans continue to retire at age 63, a great many will risk income shortfalls, especially at older ages. This risk is even greater for those currently nearing retirement who have recently seen a large...

The conventional wisdom says that older workers are less likely to be displaced than younger workers. While true in the past, the conventional wisdom is no longer true today; the advantage that older workers had has disappeared. This loss of relative job security is troubling. Once displaced,...

With the economy sliding ever deeper into recession, questions arise about how older workers are faring and how their fate relative to younger workers compares to the past. The answer to these questions turns out to be a little complicated. Two forces are at work. On the one hand, labor force...

Even before the sharp financial downturn, working longer had emerged as perhaps the most attractive response to the contraction of the nation’s retirement income system.1 Since the downturn, working longer increasingly seems to be the only way most work­ers approaching retirement can secure a...

Employer defined benefit pension plans have long been an important component of the U.S. retirement system. Although these plans are disappearing in the private sector – replaced by 401(k)s – they remain the prevalent retirement plan arrangement in the public sector. But these public sector...