Economists frequently assume that employees "pay for" employer-provided fringe benefits, such as contributions to retirement plans, in the form of reduced wages. Because low-income employees receive little tax benefit from saving in qualified retirement plans, however, and may prefer immediate...

The long-term shift in coverage from defined benefit (DB) pensions to defined contribution (DC) plans may accelerate rapidly as more large companies freeze their DB pensions and replace them with new or enhanced DC plans. This paper uses the Model of Income in the Near Term to simulate the...

Some Social Security reforms would provide guarantees that individuals would not receive less under a reformed system than would be provided by current law. However, the "current law" benefit formula increases benefits when wages rise. Any reform successfully adding to economic growth,...

This project uses dynamic microanalytic simulation techniques to explore the distributional consequences of Plan 2 of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. This plan includes a voluntary personal account that would be carved out of currently-scheduled benefit contributions, a...

Recent Social Security reform efforts focus predominantly on the establishment of personal retirement accounts either to supplement or partially replace the current Social Security program. An important issue related to these personal accounts is whether they will redistribute income and how any...

Each of the three pillars of the US retirement system—Social Security, employer pensions, and private savings—suffers from serious problems that could threaten the financial security of future retirees. Social Security is at risk of becoming insolvent. If policymakers fail to act, Social...