Better data on private pensions helps researchers paint a more detailed picture of retirement
September 12, 2017
One of the United States’ longest-running surveys on aging, the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), recently was able to add pension plan descriptions from public employers’ websites and private employers’ Form 5500 filings. While in the past HRS has had…
Read moreFinancial Security Research Symposium webcast available
August 23, 2017
Co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Social Security Administration, this event featured four panels of academic, nonprofit, and governmental experts addressing issues surrounding financial preparedness and retirement security. If you missed the symposium, the webcast is now available. The schedule…
Read moreSpring newsletter focuses on MRRC workshop
August 23, 2017
This newsletter covers the annual MRRC workshop, including some upcoming research on cognition and long-term care insurance, as well as researchers’ publications and media sightings. Newsletter Volume 17, Issue 2, is attached in PDF form and available online here: http://projects.isr.umich.edu/mrrc-archive/Publication/Newsletters/Index
Read moreAnother Retirement Research Consortium Meeting is on the books
August 23, 2017
Slides for the most of the 2017 presentations are currently posted. More materials, including videos of the meeting, will be shared soon. Thank you to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College for organizing this year’s event.
Read moreOf payroll taxes, bunching, and kink points
August 14, 2017
More than 65 percent of United States households pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes in a year. Yet, the vast majority of literature on the labor supply changes induced by taxation is derived from changes in income taxes,…
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Social Security announces seventh National Disability Forum
July 11, 2017
The forum, “Serving Individuals with Disabilities: Best Practices and the Modern Day Workforce,” will be held on Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 1-3 p.m. EDT. There will be two panels: “Best Practices from Other Disability Programs,” focusing on understanding best practices…
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Welfare of U.S. vets has declined over time, researchers find
July 3, 2017
As the face of America’s veterans change, policy, too, will adapt. In this 2015 working paper, “Declining Wealth and Work among Male Veterans in the Health and Retirement Study,” by Alan L. Gustman, Thomas L. Steinmeier, and Nahid Tabatabai Data:…
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Health care reform hasn’t changed older workers’ labor supply—yet
June 26, 2017
Researchers have been curious about how the availability of nonemployer-tied medical insurance offered through health care reform would affect retirement. If new options, such as subsidized nongroup policies and expanded Medicaid coverage, led to shorter work lives, it could undermine…
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Housing wealth differentiates English and U.S. retirement savings
June 19, 2017
Designing effective policy to influence household retirement-saving behavior requires a deeper understanding of household motivations for saving and retention of wealth, particularly at older ages. In their 2015 working paper, “Comparing Retirement Wealth Trajectories on Both Sides of the Pond,”…
Read moreStudy looks at how households adjust budgets to job loss
May 17, 2017
Common sense says that losing a job would have major effects on household budgets. Economic theory says that if a household is adequately insured, through unemployment benefits, savings, home equity, etc., it will be better able to adjust consumption and…
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