Axel Börsch-Supan, a German expert on public pensions, spoke at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Retirement Research Consortium in Washington, DC earlier this month. He offered an implicit framework for how public pension systems should work. He suggested that these systems should: Be operationally transparent Automatically adjust to changes in the supporting economy Not[Learn more…]
Social Security
The Other One Percent – Part 3 (The Value of Waiting)
This Part 3, of a 3-part series, read the other parts here: Part 1, Part 2. In my previous two articles, I talked about both the relatively small number of Americans who delay receiving Social Security until age 70 (the age that would maximize their benefit), here, and how a breakeven analysis of Social Security[Learn more…]
The Other One Percent – Part 2
This is Part 2, of a 3-part series, read the other parts here: Part 1, Part 3. In my previous article, I noted the (surprising) fact that although most financial planners recommend people delay filing for Social Security until age 70, when the benefit will be highest, only about 1% of Americans actually do this.[Learn more…]
The Other One Percent – Part 1
This is Part 1, of 3-part series, read the other parts here: Part 2, Part 3. There’s been a lot of discussion lately about “the one percent.” And while income inequality is an important topic, I want to talk about “the other one percent.” This is not an article about Thomas Piketty or tax policy.[Learn more…]
How to Fix Social Security (According to the Presidential Candidates)
Social Security is not in crisis, but the coming inability of Social Security taxes to cover benefits is close enough (2033-2034) to have prompted most presidential candidates to take a position. Republicans want to close the gap by reducing benefits. Democrats want to close the gap by increasing tax revenues. The enacted solution is likely[Learn more…]
New Rules for Claiming Social Security Benefits
New rules eliminate the ability of spouses who do not reach 62 by January 1, 2016 to file for spousal benefits while letting their own retirement benefits grow. April 29, 2016 is the deadline to reach age 66 and “File and Suspend” in order to let your retirement benefits grow while your spouse takes spousal[Learn more…]
