How Would the President's Fiscal Commission's Social Security Proposals Affect Future Beneficiaries?

Estimates how proposed changes to Social Security, including raising the cap on earnings subject to the payroll tax, would affect benefits over time and by income and lifetime payroll tax contributions

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

What Explains Educational Disparities in Older Adults’ Propensity to Work?

Although older Americans’ employment has surged over the last 20 years, less-educated adults are much less likely to work at older ages than their better-educated counterparts. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study linked to job demands information derived from the Occupational Information Network, this study identifies those factors driving educational differences in old-age employment. The results show that self-reported health and work-restricting health conditions account for almost half of the employment gap. Job demands and other job characteristics, including the presence of difficult working conditions, also account for a significant share of the gap

HOW DOES 401(K) AUTO-ENROLLMENT RELATE TO THE EMPLOYER MATCH AND TOTAL COMPENSATION?

Many workers eligible for 401(k) plans fail to participate and those who do participate often save too little. In response, policy experts have advocated auto-enrollment, in which employees are signed up a