For millions of Americans, financial advisors are a trusted source of financial and retirement preparation information. This includes providing advice and information on Social Security benefits, a critical component of most Americans’ retirement finances. To gain greater insight into what...

Using the Social Security Administration's MINT (Modeling Income in the Near Term) model, this paper calculates the marginal returns to work near retirement, as measured by the increase in benefits associated with an additional year of employment at the end of an individual's work life. With...

A new consensus on entitlement reform has developed in Washington: rising per-capita health care spending is the only real crisis besetting the government's entitlement programs, while America's aging population and Social Security play minor roles at best. Some cite this view to shift the...

As the debt-ceiling debate begins, congressional Republicans will demand spending cuts to counter any increase in the debt limit. These spending cuts are likely to include entitlement reforms, with Social Security, particularly, as a prime target. Most congressional Democrats might favor payroll...

One of the most challenging issues in assessing teacher compensation is determining how much time teachers spend working compared to other professionals. Previous attempts to answer this question have used data that are either unreliable, not generalizable to other professions, or both. We use...

Recognizing the unsustainable fiscal outlook facing the United States, the authors present a plan to constrain the growth of federal spending and reform the tax system to promote economic growth. The plan replaces the income tax system with a progressive consumption tax, eliminating the bias...

In response to a widespread perception that households are undersaving for retirement, policymakers have proposed expanding Social Security and establishing supplementary retirement saving plans run by state governments. But these proposals take place against a background of record-high unfunded...

The public-sector pension industry is claiming a comeback from losses suffered during the Great Recession. But this recovery is greatly exaggerated: even years past the end of the recession, most pension sponsors are unable to their full annual contributions, and pensions are taking as much...