Research Report Reform Model Two of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security
Subtitle
Distributional Outcomes under Different Economic and Behavioral Assumptions
Melissa M. Favreault, Joshua H. Goldwyn, Karen E. Smith, Cori E. Uccello, Sheila R. Zedlewski
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This project explores distributional consequences of Plan 2 of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security using dynamic microsimulation. This plan includes: voluntary personal account "carve outs," minimum benefits, widow(er)s benefit increases, and initial benefit formula shifts (from wage- to price-indexing). The analysis develops a baseline using Office of the Chief Actuary assumptions regarding portfolio allocation, rates of return, administrative costs, and annuitization. We compare results with promised benefits and current-law adjusted to match costs of the baseline without accounts. We test the estimates' sensitivity to assumptions using historical data, values from the literature, and models estimated from SCF data.
Research Areas Aging and retirement
Tags Social Security Economic well-being Pensions Retirement policy
Policy Centers Income and Benefits Policy Center