Does Autoenrollment Affect Employer Contributions?

Summarizes research on how automatically enrolling employees in 401(k) plans in order to raise participation rates increases costs for employers and affects their matching contribution rates and, in turn, the retirement security of eligible employees

How Much Might Automatic IRAs Improve Retirement Security for Low- and Moderate-Wage Workers?

Estimates the extent to which requiring employers with no retirement plan to set up individual retirement accounts and automatically deposit a portion of pay would improve low- and moderate-wage workers' retirement security. Outlines policy implications

Age Disparities in Unemployment and Reemployment During the Great Recession and Recovery

Analyzes patterns in the percentage of workers unemployed at any point between May 2008 and March 2011, number of months they were unemployed, wage losses at reemployment, and likelihood of workers leaving the labor force by age group

What the 2008 Stock Market Crash Means for Retirement Security

Compares future retirement resources before and after the stock market decline, by gender, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, and retirement income quintile, under three scenarios: no recovery, full recovery, and partial recovery in ten years

Understanding Early Withdrawals From Retirement Accounts

Examines early withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s by demographics, education, income, and reason, including job loss, poor health, and college costs. Suggests policies to expand plan participation, preserve retirement savings, and increase other savings

The Potential Impact of the Great Recession on Future Retirement Incomes

Estimates the effects of job loss, slower wage growth, and withdrawals from retirement savings during the 2007-09 recession on retirement incomes at age 70, including decline in income by age group and number of those likely to live in poverty at 70

"Working for a Good Retirement"

The choice of retirement age is the most important portfolio choice most workers will make. Drawing on the Urban Institute's Dynamic Simulation of Income model (DYNASIM3), this report examines how delaying retirement for nondisabled workers would affect individual retiree benefits, the solvency of the Social Security trust fund, and general revenues. The results suggest that delaying retirement by itself does not generate enough additional revenue to make Social Security solvent by 2045. Benefit cuts or supplementary funding sources will be necessary to achieve solvency. However, the size of the benefit cuts or tax increases could be minimized if individuals worked longer. This additional work also substantially increases worker's retirement well-being. Lower-income workers, to the extent they can work longer, have the most to gain from their additional labor. Policy changes that encourage work at older ages will substantially improve both economic and personal well-being in the future.

Children's Savings Accounts: Why Design Matters

Estimates how specific features of CSAs -- supplemental grants, federal matches, private contributions, and nontaxability -- would affect the impact of CSAs on wealth distribution. Analyzes data by mother's race/ethnicity, income, and education

Is Rising Household Debt Affecting Retirement Decisions?

Household debt among older Americans approaching retirement has increased dramatically over the past couple of decades. Older households have become increasingly more indebted and more leveraged. While mortgages remain the predominant type of debt among households in their 50s and 60s, in recent years, student loan debt has also risen among these households. Using household survey data to examine how late life debt affects retirement decisions, we find that more indebted older adults are more likely to work, less likely to be retired, and on average expect to work longer than those with less debt

Potential Impacts of the Great Recession on Future Retirement Incomes

This study examines the long-run effects of the Great Recession on future retirement incomes for working-age adults using a microsimulation model. We estimate that the recession will reduce average age-70 annual incomes by four percent. Retirement incomes will fall most sharply for those workers who were youngest when the recession began. They are most likely to have lost their jobs and the impact of lower wages will accumulate over their entire careers. High-income retirees with the most to lose will also see substantial absolute income declines, but their losses are not particularly large when measured relative to their projected incomes