CRR Director Alicia Munnell writes a weekly blog post for MarketWatch.
Recent Posts
Social Security’s Retirement Age is 70 (9/21/22)
Impact of COVID-19 on Life Expectancy is Misleading (9/14/22)
With Inflation, Many Retirees Will Pay More Federal Income Taxes (9/7/22)
How Big a Social Security COLA Can Retirees Expect in 2023? (8/30/22)
How are Public Pensions Faring with Falling Markets and Rising Inflation? (8/23/22)
After 50 Years of Progress, How Prepared are Women for Retirement? (8/15/22)
New Proposal Aims at Better Funded State and Local Pensions (8/9/22)
Congress Has the Chance to Pass Meaningful Retirement Reform (8/3/22)
Private Equity in 401(k) Plans? Why Bother? (7/28/22)
Retirees Don’t Live on ‘Fixed Incomes’ (7/25/22)
Back Off, Guys: President Biden Made a Good Choice (7/11/22)
How to Fix the Too-high 2022 Medicare Part B Premium? (7/7/22)
Social Security is Valuable and Needs Attention Sooner Rather Than Later (6/28/22)
The Stock Market Decline is Undercutting Retirement Saving (6/21/22)
Changing Tax Incentives for Retirement Saving Won’t Do Much Good (6/14/22)
Social Security May be the Most Powerful Equalizing Force in Our Society (6/7/22)
Recognizing ‘Legacy Debt’ is Key to Better Funding of Public Pensions (6/1/22)
Bitcoin in 401(k) Plans is a Terrible Idea (5/23/22)
The SEC Has Taken the First Step toward Undermining 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries (5/18/22)
Lack of Coverage is the Biggest Problem with Our Retirement System (5/13/22)
How Will Boomers Draw Down Their 401(k) Balances? (5/3/22)
Does Employer Concentration Reduce Labor-Force Participation? (4/25/22)
SECURE 2.0 Offers Perks for the Rich to Make Progress for the Middle-Class (4/22/22)
Why are Social Security Disability Rolls Declining? (4/13/22)
Do Households Save More When the Kids Leave? (4/4/22)
Social Security Benefits Should Not Be Cut (3/29/22)
The Trust Act is Not the Way to Fix Social Security (3/22/22)
Older Workers Have Gone Back to Work at an Amazing Pace (3/14/22)
As President Biden Proposed, Medicare Needs the Ability to Negotiate Drug Prices (3/7/22)
How the Alzheimer’s Drug Aduhelm Posed a Real Challenge to Medicare Officials (3/1/22)
Medicare’s Finances and the Saga of the Alzheimer’s Drug Aduhelm (2/24/22)
Will ‘Unretirement’ Solve the Labor Shortage? (2/14/22)
How Much Can Online Tools Ease Social Security’s Workload? (2/7/22)
Have We Undercounted or Overcounted COVID-19 Deaths? (1/31/22)
Retirees in the U.S. Do Not Live on ‘Fixed Incomes’ (1/24/22)
Would 401(k) Participants Use a Social Security ‘Bridge’ Option? (1/19/22)
New Study on 401(k) Leakages Narrows the Range of Estimates (1/3/22)
How Much Do Retirees Want to Consume? (12/21/21)
Who Will Have Unmet Long-Term Care Needs? (12/13/21)
New Proposal Would Improve Social Security’s Finances and Modestly Enhance Benefits (12/8/21)
Government Announces Surprising Hike in Medicare Part B Premiums (11/30/21)
How to Explain the Increased Percentage of Retired People? (11/23/21)
Social Security Proposal Raises Revenue and Temporarily Enhances Benefits (11/17/21)
Social Security: A Price Index for the Elderly Doesn’t Always Yield a Higher Number (11/8/21)
Are Teachers Overpaid or Underpaid? (11/4/21)
Scary Press Reports of Social Security Affect Worker Behavior (10/26/21)
What Resources Do 65-year-olds Have to Cover Long-term Care in Retirement? (10/20/21)
The Debt Limit Could Delay Social Security Benefits (10/11/21)
Vanguard Moves to Automatically Transfer Small 401(k) Balances (10/4/21)
Ways and Means Committee Adds a Federal Auto-IRA Program to $3.5 Trillion Package (9/27/21)
Social Security 2021 Trustees Report May Be Complicated, but the Bottom Line is Clear (9/20/21)
As the Super Rich Exploit IRAs, Congress Contemplates Changes (9/15/21)
Do All State and Local Workers Receive Lifetime Annuities? (9/7/21)
Does the U.S. Have a Retirement Crisis? (8/30/21)
Do People Plan to Leave Bequests? Do They Have Wills? (8/24/21)
How Did Stimulus Checks Affect Household Finances? (8/17/21)
Large Social Security COLA May Spark Debate About Appropriate Index (8/11/21)
Were Older Workers Hurt Disproportionately by the COVID Recession? (8/2/21)
Working Longer is Possible for Most People (7/26/21)
Private Equity Does Not Belong in 401(k) Plans (7/20/21)
401(k) Participants Flourished in 2020 with a Soaring Stock Market (7/13/21)
Proposed Legislation Would Allow $1,000 Penalty-free 401(k) Withdrawal (7/6/21)
What Long-Term Services and Supports do Retirees Need? (6/29/21)
Proposed Legislation Would Allow ESG Funds as Default in 401(k) Plans (6/21/21)
Shoring up Supplemental Security Income Would Help Many of the Nation’s Poorest (6/14/21)
Will Millennials be Ready for Retirement? (6/8/21)
What Does the Inflation Spike Say About the Social Security COLA? (6/1/21)
What Happens to Government Workers Who Don’t Receive Social Security? (5/26/21)
Your 401(k) Balances Aren’t All Yours (5/18/21)
Biden’s Plan to Fully Tax Capital Gains is Good Policy (5/10/21)
To What Extent will Working from Home Continue? (5/3/21)
Has COVID-19 Pushed More People Into Retirement? (4/20/21)
Can Investors Solve the Climate Change Problem? (4/13/21)
COVID $1.9 Trillion Package Temporarily Expands Earned-Income Tax Credit (3/30/21)
Critics Leap on Aid to Multiemployer Pension Plans (3/23/21)
What is the Value of Annuities? (3/17/21)
Do Men and Women Save Differently for Retirement? (3/8/21)
Has COVID-19 Really Affected Life Expectancy? (3/1/21)
Few 401(k) Participants Changed Portfolio Allocation When Market Tanked (2/23/21)
Retirement Income Security for Everyone (RISE) Raises Many Questions (2/17/21)
Low Interest Rates Make It Harder to Save for Retirement (2/8/21)
What’s Happening to State and Local Government Finances? (2/1/21)
Retirement Security in 2019 and 2020: We Need to Fix Our Retirement System (1/25/21)
How to Get Steady Income for Life (1/21/21)
COVID Pressured Some Employers to Suspend their 401(k) Match (1/12/21)
Eliminating Social Security’s WEP and GPO Provisions Is Not the Way to Help Retirees (1/5/21)
COVID Is Not a Retirement Story (12/21/20)
Auto-IRA Programs Are Closing the Coverage Gap (12/18/20)
Social Security Actuaries Update Projections for COVID-19 (12/8/20)
How Has COVID-19 Affected Older Workers (11/30/20)
Social Security Lets You Change Your Mind (11/16/20)
401(k) and IRA Balances Are Up Modestly, a Key Survey Shows (11/10/20)
Here’s an Easier Way to Think About ESG Investing (11/2/20)
DOL Punts on SECURE Act Lifetime Income Illustrations (10/27/20)
Social Insurance Is the Best Way to Save — Now More Than Ever (10/13/20)
How Rich Is the ‘Middle Class’? (10/6/20)
Are We Undercounting or Overcounting COVID-19 Deaths? (9/30/20)
Payroll Tax Deferral Messes with Social Security — One of the Few Good Things in This Crazy World (9/21/20)
Biden’s 401(k) Plan: Changing Tax Incentive for Retirement Is a Great Idea (9/14/20)
A Drop in Social Security’s Average Wage Index Could Hurt Four Million People (9/8/20)
Department of Labor Rules on Both Sides of the Social Investing Issue (8/31/20)
Should We Rethink How We Tax Social Security Benefits? (8/24/20)
Don’t Trust the TRUST Act (8/17/20)
Paying Off Unfunded Pensions Liabilities Will Be a Low Priority After COVID-19 (8/10/20)
Department of Labor Comes Down Hard on Social Investing (8/4/20)
Don’t Cut the Payroll Tax — Let’s Help Those without a Job (7/28/20)
Tapping Social Security for Anything — Including COVID-19 Payments — Is Wrongheaded (7/21/20)
What Will COVID-19 Mean for Social Security Claiming? (7/16/20)
Will COVID-19 Force Older Workers to Retire? (7/8/20)
New Labor Department Rule Changes Default Retirement Plan Disclosure from Paper to Electronic (6/29/20)
Social Security’s Average Wage Index Likely to Decline in 2020 (6/23/20)
COVID-19 Is Not as Big a Threat to Typical Older Workers as You Might Think (6/16/20)
Older Workers Are as Well Situated as Younger Workers to Work Remotely (6/9/20)
Pre-COVID-19 Survey Shows Employers Positive on Older Workers (6/1/20)
Can People Really Work from Home? (5/27/20)
Social Security and COVID-19: 3 Ways the Shutdown Could Impact the Program (5/18/20)
Job Losses Have Hit Older Workers Harder than Prime-age Workers (5/11/20)
Social Security Report Shows Uptick in 75-Year Deficit, No Change in Trust Fund Depletion Date (5/6/20)
How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Affect Social Security’s Finances? (4/30/20)
Employers Start to Suspend Their 401(k) Match (4/21/20)
Why Suspending the RMD Rules for 2020 Is a Good Move (4/14/20)
Congress Missed a Big Opportunity in the CARES Legislation (4/6/20)
Why Do So Many People Need Financial Help? (3/30/20)
Suspending the Social Security Payroll Tax Is a Terrible Idea (3/24/20)
Scattering of Death Rates Has Huge Implications for Social Security (3/20/20)
Yes, Retirement Benefits for Police and Fire are Expensive (3/10/20)
There are No Magic Fixes for Social Security (3/2/20)
Health Savings Accounts are Crazy Bad Tax Policy (2/26/20)
Do Millennials Really Deserve a ‘Gold Star’ for Retirement Saving? (2/18/20)
Life Expectancy is Up Slightly — and That’s Good News (2/11/10)
No Need to Talk About the Saver’s Credit in a Presidential Campaign (2/4/20)
Are Retiree Housing Patterns Stable Enough to Borrow Against Home Equity? (1/28/20)
How Can We Fix Social Security’s Coming Cash Shortfall? (1/22/20)
Secure Act is Likely to Have a Positive — but Small — Impact (1/15/20)
Middle-Income Households Haven’t Recovered Since the Great Recession — Here’s a Reason Why (1/7/20)
Recent Surveys Show Sharp Decline in Retirement Wealth for Typical Household (1/2/20)
How Valuable is Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Insurance? 12/17/19)
The Only Way to Ensure Retirement Plan Coverage for the Uncovered is an Employer Mandate (12/10/19)
Social Security is a Great Economic Equalizer (12/3/19)
How Far Off are the Actuarial Adjustments of Social Security Benefits? (11/19/19)
What Will Retirement Look like in 50 Years? (11/11/19)
Social Security Reform Proposal: Why Do Estimates of the 2100 Act’s Impact Differ? (11/4/19)
Can You Save Your Way Out of Trouble? (10/30/19)
GE Freezes its Pension Plans and Offers Former Employees Lump Sum Buyouts (10/23/19)
How Much Would People Take Out of Retirement Accounts if Left on their Own? (10/15/19)
Massachusetts Just Imposed a Payroll Tax to Pay for Family Leave (10/7/19)
How Would Negative Interest Rates Impact your Retirement Security? (10/2/19)
Elizabeth Warren Calls for a Dramatic Expansion of Social Security Benefits (9/23/19)
The Overlooked Data Point in the New Census Report: Most Families Don’t Have Much Income (9/16/19)
Are Fears of a Retirement Crisis Overblown? (9/11/19)
New Labor Department Rule on Multiple Employer Retirement Plans Seeks to Expand Access (9/3/19)
Only a Minority of People Ages 50 to 62 Work Steadily in Jobs with Benefits (8/27/19)
These 4 Factors Explain Why 401(k) Balances are So Far Below their Potential (8/27/19)
This Recent Report Suggests Steady Saving for Retirement is Not Important (8/17/19)
Why Do Politicians Keep Running Up the Debt? (8/10/19)
Annuities Need to Be a 401(k) Default (7/31/19)
The Treasury’s I-bond is a Wonderful Product (7/24/19)
401(k) Balances Increased Very Little in the Last 10 Years (7/15/19)
Why so Many Households Find it Difficult to Cover a $400 Emergency Expense (7/15/19)
How Has the Decline in Assumed Investment Returns Affected Public Pension Costs? (7/2/19)
ESG — or Socially Responsible — Funds May Soothe Your Conscience but Could Weaken Your Portfolio (6/25/19)
Married Women More at Risk in Retirement than Singles (6/17/19)
Making Sense of Bankruptcy and Retirement Plans (6/10/19)
Age Discrimination is Still a Major Obstacle for Older Workers (6/3/19)
Do Pension Benefit Cuts Encourage Public Employees to Leave? (5/29/19)
Why the Decline in Homeownership is Bad for Americans (5/13/19)
Should Annuities Pay Out the Same for Men and Women? (5/6/19)
Social Security Could Provide Cheaper and Better Annuities Than the Private Sector (4/30/19)
Millennials’ Late Marriage Should Have Only a Minor Effect on their 401(k) Saving (4/23/19)
Is the Brexit Mess Linked to the Conservatives’ Long-term Care Proposals? (4/15/19)
Treasury and IRS Move Backward by Giving a Green Light to Offering Retiree Pension Buyouts (4/11/19)
This Change Could Help Solve Social Security’s Long-term Financial Challenge (4/1/19)
Two-income Couples Are Surprisingly Unprepared for Retirement — Here’s One Reason Why (3/26/19)
Should Governments Contribute Parks to Fund their Pension Plans? (3/18/19)
People Need to Use Their Home Equity in Retirement (3/14/19)
Politicians Suggest That Public Pension Plans Divest (3/5/19)
Why Do 37% of Older Workers Retire Earlier than Planned? (2/27/19)
This New Social Security Bill Could Make Social Security Even Better (2/23/19)
Future Retirees: Brace Yourself for Three Major Financial Risks (2/5/19)
Minorities — Particularly Hispanics — Are Increasingly Unprepared for Retirement (1/30/19)
The Money in Your 401(k) and IRA Accounts Doesn’t Belong Entirely to You (1/24/19)
Mayor de Blasio Proposes Auto-IRAs to Help New Yorkers Save for Retirement (1/14/19)
Should the Government be Allowed to Negotiate Drug Prices? (1/8/19)
‘Yellow vest’ Protests are a Good Excuse to Look at Tax Burdens (1/2/19)
Recent Tax Cuts and Spending Hikes Should Not be Used to put Social Security and Medicare at Risk (12/18/18)
The First State Auto-IRA Program is Up and Running (12/11/18)
Combining Small 401(k) Accounts Helps Preserve Retirement Saving (12/4/18)
How Well do Household Surveys Measure Retirement Income? (11/27/18)
IRS Ruling Allows 401(k) Student Loan Benefits (11/14/18)
Want to Keep People Working Longer? Expand the Earned-income Tax Credit (11/14/18)
What’s Causing the Epidemic in Drug-related Deaths Among Whites? (11/5/18)
People Aren’t Giving Up their Day Jobs for Uber (10/30/18)
Women Live Longer than Men Everywhere — Here’s Why (10/23/18)
An Easier and Cheaper Way for Retirees to Tap Home Equity (10/16/18)
New Census Data Suggest that Retirement Savers Face a Daunting Challenge (10/9/18)
Bad Ideas Die Hard: Why We Shouldn’t Use Social Security to Finance Parental Leave (10/1/18)
These Accounts Should Help People Save for a Rainy Day — and Protect their Retirement Savings (9/25/18)
President Trump Opens the Door to Changing Retirement Distributions (9/19/18)
Multiemployer Pension Plans Can’t Cut their Way to Solvency (9/12/18)
Do Higher Fees Help State and Local Pension Plans Hit their Benchmarks? (9/5/18)
IRS Ruling Allows 401(k) Student Loan Benefits (8/27/18)
Massachusetts Public Pension Benefits are Stingy (8/23/18)
Don’t Confuse Public Pension Cost with Generosity (8/14/18)
It’s Time to Take Another Look at the Taxation of Capital Gains (8/6/18)
State Auto-IRAs are a Necessary Initiative (7/30/18)
The U.S. Needs a Pension Registry to Help People Keep Track of their Savings (7/24/18)
Investment Returns Vary a Lot Across State and Local Pension Plans (7/20/18)
Some Bad News About Retirement Savings: 401(k) Balances Increased Very Little in the Last 10 Years (7/10/18)
A Small Glimmer of Hope in the Social Security Report: Disability Costs May be Lower Than Projected (6/25/18)
What Explains the Widening Gap in Retirement Ages? (6/18/18)
How to Make Sense of the 2018 Social Security Trustees Report (6/11/18)
The Federal Government Should Fix the Pension Coverage Gap (6/4/18)
Can a State-Sponsored 401(k) Plan Expand Access to Retirement Savings? (5/30/18)
Government Money Should Help Solve this Pension Crisis (5/21/18)
A Simple Change to Your 401(k) Statement Could Encourage You to Save More for Retirement (5/14/18)
401(k) Lawsuits are Surging. Here’s What it Means For You (5/9/18)
Why Do We Continue to Beat up on Teachers? (5/1/18)
Teacher Compensation Lags Behind — Their Protests are Understandable (4/24/18)
Could Tontines Be an Alternative to Annuities? (4/18/18)
It’s Harder Than You Think to Spend Down Your 401(k) Account in Retirement (4/16/18)
Fiduciary Rule Takes a Hit in the Fifth Circuit (4/12/18)
Public Plans Should Not Engage in Social Investing (4/2/18)
Yes, It’s True: Older People Depend on Social Security (3/27/18)
The Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act is Back — And It Does Some Good Things (3/21/18)
How Much Do We Spend on Long-Term Care? (3/13/18)
Does America Have a Fertility Problem? (3/9/18)
President Trump Looks to Cut Federal Pensions (3/5/18)
Mandatory Retirement Accounts to Help Workers Delay Claiming Social Security (3/5/18)
Borrowing From Social Security is the Wrong Way to Finance Student Debt and Parental Leave (2/21/18)
Social Security Will Need More Revenues — Where Should That Money Come From? (2/12/18)
While the Annual Fertility Rate Plummets, Lifetime Fertility Climbs (2/6/18)
Paul Ryan Urges Women to Have More Kids for the Sake of America — Is That Good Advice? (1/30/18)
A Few Companies Have Increased Their 401(k) Match — What Does This Mean? (1/17/18)
Half of Households Still Face a Retirement Shortfall — Even with Rising Assets (1/9/18)
How Have U.S. Mortality Rates Changed Over Time? (1/4/18)
The Future Depends on Our Ability to Curb Obesity (12/19/17)
A Million Participants in Multiemployer Pension Plans Face a Loss of Benefits (12/14/17)
Tax Bill’s Inflation Adjustment is Sensible (12/4/17)
How Can Congress Pass a Tax Bill that Increases the Deficit? (12/2/17)
Future Retirees Will End Up Paying for Tax Cuts (11/21/17)
This is How Changes in Pensions Can Lead to Changes in Worker Behavior (11/14/17)
Why You’ll Probably Have a Worse Retirement than Your Parents Did (11/10/17)
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