The brief’s key findings are: The COVID recession brought the economy to a halt, but households got robust government support and asset markets soared during 2020-2021. Overall, balance sheets showed some improvements during this period: high-wealth households saw rapid asset growth from the booming markets; and those in the middle got market gains and a boost from…
Across the nation, many older adults struggle to make ends meet. The Elder Index, produced by the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston, suggests that roughly one-third of older households have incomes below what it takes to meet basic needs and age in place. One question is whether living in a high-wealth, high-cost state such as…
For many, the shift from five days a week in the office to at least some amount of work at home seems to be a lasting effect of the pandemic. Recent research suggests that this shift has helped late-career workers with disabilities, encouraging higher rates of employment than before the pandemic…
The Trump Administration’s flouting of the U.S. Constitution brings to mind Benjamin Franklin’s often quoted statement that “[o]ur new Constitution...
DOGE attack on Social Security sparks anxiety about program’s stability. DOGE’s attack on Social Security has put the agency’s operations...
FEATURED
CLOSING THE COVERAGE GAP
By Andrew G. Biggs, Alicia H. Munnell and Anqi Chen
The brief’s key findings are: 401(k)s/IRAs have the potential to provide significant wealth. But a typical 60-year-old with a 401(k) in 2016 had less than $100,000 compared to a potential $360,000 in combined 401(k)/IRA assets. Four factors could explain this gap: the immaturity of the 401(k) system, the lack of universal coverage, leakages, and fees…
Associate Director of State & Local Research
Associate Director of Retirement Plans and Finance Jean-Pierre Aubry is associate director of retirement plans and finance at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. He oversees and conducts research and data collection, develops new analytic techniques for evaluating retirement plans, and secures funding support. Aubry is recognized as a leading expert on stat…
By Kim Blanton
With so many Americans in the dark about how to prepare for retirement, educating them about why it’s critical to save seems an obvious way to tackle this problem. But very few solid studies prove that financial education actually works. This field research should be counted as a positive result for a modest, low-cost financia…
The next Retirement and Disability Research Consortium Meeting will be held virtually on August 3-4, 2023. This free and public event showcases the latest in retirement and disability research from the nation’s top scholars.
CRR IN THE NEWS
NEW YORK TIMES
Demand and costs for care are rising at the same time that a labor shortage threatens to worsen.
USA TODAY
The average retirement age of American workers is creeping steadily up, according to a new report from a prominent economist.