Tag: FRA

In this campaign season, fixing Social Security is once again emerging as a major topic. As Figure 1 shows, the cost of the program as a percentage of payrolls is higher than revenues. In the short term, the gap can be filled by drawing down the trust fund that was built up after the 1983…

Supplemental Transition Accounts for Retirement (STARTs) would raise retirement incomes. Gary Koenig of AARP, Jason Fichtner of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Bill Gale of the Brookings Institution have proposed Supplemental Transition Accounts for Retirement (STARTs) to raise the age at which Social Security benefits are first paid, thereby reducing the tota…