Tag: regional housing costs

Model house in a shopping cart

My colleagues and I have always had this notion that, because wage levels vary across the country, workers in high-cost areas would receive lower replacement rates under Social Security’s progressive benefit formula than otherwise identical workers in low-cost areas. This variation in replacement rates could then cause those in high-cost areas to retire later, sav…

House model on coins stack for saving to buy a house

The brief’s key findings are: Workers in high-cost areas of the U.S. earn more than those with similar skills in low-cost areas. Earnings levels affect Social Security benefits, which replace a smaller share of wages for higher earners and do not account for local prices. In response, households in high-cost areas might save more, work longer, or…