Social Security’s design is known to help Black individuals and those with lower socioeconomic status due to the progressive benefit formula, but this effect is partially offset by the shorter life expectancies of these groups.  However, valuing Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) solely on expected benefits neglects the program’s longevity insurance value, which favors individuals…

The headlines from the 2023 Medicare Trustees Re­port were that the Hospital Insurance (HI) program faces a long-term deficit and will deplete its trust fund reserves in 2031 and that the rest of the Medicare program will require increasing amounts of general revenues. While true, the outlook for program costs is considerably more favorable than…

Since fiscal year 2019, financial markets have been jostled by a series of unusual events: 1) the onset of COVID; 2) the subsequent COVID stimulus; 3) declining interest rates; 4) rising inflation; and then 5) rising interest rates.  Despite the volatility of asset values over this period, the 2023 funded status of state and loca…