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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Restructuring Social Security: How Will Retirement Ages Respond?, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Restructuring Social Security: How Will Retirement Ages Respond?, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Gary S Fields
[Excerpt] Budgetary pressures on the Social Security system have increased in recent years, prompting a variety of proposals to restructure the U.S. retirement income program. Most of these proposals ignore the possibility that the retirement patterns of older workers are likely to respond to changes in the incentives to retire. This chapter presents two important pieces of information for policymakers. First, we provide previously unavailable evidence on how changes in the structure of Social Security benefits would alter the economic incentives to retire at different ages. Second, we compute how retirement patterns would change in response to altered incentives to …
Rewards For Continued Work: The Economic Incentives For Postponing Retirement, Olivia S. Mitchell, Gary S. Fields
Rewards For Continued Work: The Economic Incentives For Postponing Retirement, Olivia S. Mitchell, Gary S. Fields
Gary S Fields
This chapter develops empirical measures of the economic incentives for deferred retirement among older workers. Using a new data file on pay and pensions, we construct intertemporal budget sets reflecting income available to workers at alternative retirement ages. The analysis explores how continued labor force attachment is rewarded in terms of net earnings, Social Security benefits, and private pension income.
The Effects Of Social Security Reforms On Retirement Ages And Retirement Incomes, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
The Effects Of Social Security Reforms On Retirement Ages And Retirement Incomes, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Gary S Fields
Recent changes legislated in the U.S. Social Security system have altered the economic incentives to work and retire. Some older workers will respond to these new incentives by retiring at different ages. This paper evaluates the signs and magnitudes of these responses. Four specific changes in the structure of Social Security benefits are examined: raising the normal retirement age, delaying the cost-of-living adjustment, lowering early retirement benefits, and increasing late retirement payments. Behavioral parameters are estimated using an ordered logit model of retirement ages; these are used to predict how retirement behavior might respond to each of the four reforms. …
[Review Of The Book Social Security: A Critique Of Radical Proposals], Gary S. Fields
[Review Of The Book Social Security: A Critique Of Radical Proposals], Gary S. Fields
Gary S Fields
[Excerpt] This book consists of six essays on Social Security. Charles Meyer leads off with a survey of the history of Social Security, its funding problems, and a radical reform proposal by Peter Ferrara to phase out the system. The remaining essays address various features of Social Security.
[Review Of The Book Forecasting Retirement Needs And Retirement Wealth], Gary Fields
[Review Of The Book Forecasting Retirement Needs And Retirement Wealth], Gary Fields
Gary S Fields
[Excerpt] This volume enables researchers to learn about some of the latest research findings on specific issues. It is not the place to seek an introduction to current thinking on retirement, pensions, and Social Security—the papers are too narrowly focused for that. But for current or would-he pension specialists, this volume and the larger series of which it is a part are indispensable resources.
Effects Of Social Security Reforms: An Empirical Life Cycle Model For The United States, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Effects Of Social Security Reforms: An Empirical Life Cycle Model For The United States, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Gary S Fields
[Excerpt] The system of publicly-provided old age pensions, known in the United States as "Social Security," faces serious financial difficulties. As in other countries, the problems are of both a short run and a long run nature. The short run problem is that the U.S. Social Security system has very meager financial reserves; the revenues coming into the system are barely enough to cover commitments. In the long run (i.e., after 2010, when the post World War II baby boom generation reaches retirement age), the financial problems of Social Security will intensify, due primarily to population aging and the consequent …
Estimating The Effects Of Changing Social Security Benefit Formulas, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Estimating The Effects Of Changing Social Security Benefit Formulas, Gary S. Fields, Olivia S. Mitchell
Gary S Fields
[Excerpt] The U.S. Social Security system faces serious financial difficulties in both the short and the long run. The short-run problem is that the system has very meager financial reserves. In the long run—after the year 2010, when the post-World-War-II baby-boom generation reaches retirement age—the financial problems of Social Security will intensify because of population aging and the consequent decline in the ratio of workers to retirees.
These problems have led to proposed reforms aimed at assuring the financial stability of the system. The question addressed here is: what effects would these reforms have on three variables—retirement ages, retirement incomes, …