Retirement Security: The Latest From New America

Rethinking Social Insurance

Fiscal Policy — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The single greatest threat to the fiscal health of the United States is the runaway growth of the nation’s major retirement and health care entitlement programs. Social Security and Medicare are projected to grow from 7.5 percent of GDP today to almost 13 percent of GDP by 2030. Already, the two programs consume over a third of the federal budget. The total present value of costs that will exceed earmarked revenues of Social Security and Medicare over the next 75 years is $41 trillion, or, as the Government Accountability Office points out, a debt burden of $135,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. If… more

A Universal 401(k) Plan

adminn — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:30:00 -0500

Click here for a brief video discussion of this idea.

For those with access, America's private pension system provides powerful saving incentives: tax breaks and employer contributions, as well as the convenience and discipline of automatic payroll deduction and professional asset management. Unfortunately, this employer-based system covers only half of all workers. Moreover, two-thirds of the tax breaks for retirement saving go to the most affluent 20 percent who would save anyway.

The solution is a Universal 401(k) plan. All workers would have… more

Universal Risk Insurance

adminn — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:57:00 -0500

In recent decades there has been a massive transfer of economic risk from shared institutional arrangements, such as unemployment insurance and basic benefit coverage provided by employers, onto the fragile balance sheets of families. Yet public programs have largely failed to respond.

"Universal Insurance" is a new response to this growing problem. It would provide short-term, stop-loss protection to families whose income (after taxes and public benefits) suddenly decline by a fifth or more due to job loss or catastrophic health expenses. All but the richest families would be eligible, but the program would be most generous for low-income families.… more

State Policy Options for Building Assets

Asset Building — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 15:49:00 -0400

States continue to play an important role in helping low- and moderate-resource families save and build wealth. They have been innovators in assets policy, whether on their own or through the forces of "devolution," in which federal funds and decision-making authority are shifting from the federal to the state level. These initiatives and experiments -- these "laboratories of democracy" -- have inspired and informed other states as well as policymakers at the national level.

The following ideas to broaden savings and asset ownership include a range of simple proposals that may have a significant impact with little associated cost; some medium… more

The Assets Report 2006

Asset Building — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:00:00 -0500

The second year of the Bush Administration’s second term is underway and the prospect of a large breakthrough for asset building policy appears remote at this time. The President’s second Inaugural Address, which highlighted the transformative potential of “ownership” and an “ownership society,” has given way to the political realities of budget deficits, international commitments, and uncertain electoral prospects.In this difficult political environment, a “dual track” strategy should be pursued: continuing to lay the foundation for larger, more ambitious asset-building policies while aggressively pursuing lower-cost policies that are poised to boost savings and asset accumulation by the poor… more

Nonpartisan Social Security Reform Plan

Fiscal Policy — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0500

The three of us -- former aides to President Clinton, Senator McCain, and President Bush -- did an experiment to see if we could develop a reform plan that we could all support. The Liebman-MacGuineas-Samwick (LMS) plan demonstrates the types of compromises that can help policy makers from across the political spectrum agree on a Social Security reform plan. The plan achieves sustainable solvency through progressive changes to taxes and benefits, introduces mandatory personal accounts, and specifies important details that are often left unaddressed in other reform plans.

The plan also illustrates that a compromise plan can contain sensible but… more

Budget Update -- July 2005

Fiscal Policy — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Being a budget watchdog generally involves a healthy degree of pessimism and the last few weeks have provided plenty of reminders why. It was encouraging to see the appropriations process moving forward within the tight spending limits set by the budget resolution. That is, until a political firestorm over veterans benefits erupted, leading to pressure for increased spending. While efforts to achieve the modest savings in mandatory spending programs are moving forward slowly, momentum is growing for further tax cuts beyond those contemplated in the budget resolution, which already increases the deficit above current law.

Discussion about restoring… more

Key Questions the Media Should Ask the Presidential Candidates

Fiscal Policy — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0400

CRFB's suggested questions on the deficit, federal debt, allocation of resources, Social Security, Medicare and the overall size of government. For the full list, please see the attached PDF file.

The Way Women Work

Workforce and Family — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Women are the primary caregivers in a family . . . 70 percent of women in dual-earner couples report taking greater responsibility for routine child care than their male partners in 2002. 70 percent of women also report responsibility for taking time off work because of children.s needs, in comparison with 30 percent of men (Families and Work Institute). More than 20 percent of households are responsible for some or all of the care of elderly relatives (US Department of Labor). According to a 1997 survey, 72 percent of family members providing elder care are women (National… more

Newly Released CBO Baseline

Economic Growth — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Please see the attached PDF version of this document, which outlines the key numbers and long-term implications of the latest Congressional Budget Office baseline estimates.

The Impact of Labor Market Trends on Health and Pension Benefit Coverage and Inequality

Retirement Security — Fri, 01 Jun 2001 00:00:00 -0400

This study examines labor market trends related to the receipt of health and pension benefits as compensation by private sector workers over the 19-year period from 1979 to 1998. This focus on trends in benefit coverage as compensation is important, among other reasons, because employerpaid benefits continue to be the primary source of both health insurance and of private retirement savings for the vast majority of Americans under 65 years of age. As policy makers continue to consider targeted and incremental solutions to the problem of millions of Americans without health insurance or adequate retirement savings, a fuller understanding of… more