Social Security and Retirement Policy by Andrew Biggs
Andrew Biggs: Social Security system most closely resembles another national pension plan
Andrew Biggs stated that, based on his ongoing project comparing national pension systems in OECD countries, the system that Social Security most closely resembles has been identified. Biggs ...
Share of comfortable seniors has risen, Andrew Biggs notes
Since 1992, there has been a significant decrease in the proportion of retirees reporting very low incomes, along with a notable rise in seniors describing themselves as financially comfortable, ...
Andrew Biggs: Social Security benefit increase from 1970 to 1980 driven by formula error
Andrew Biggs highlights that the Social Security benefit increase between 1970 and 1980 was approximately 80 percent, surpassing both inflation and wage growth. He explains that this significant ...
Social Security deficit shrinks, U.S. debt impact rises, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs reports that the Congressional Budget Office has found Social Security's long-term deficit has been reduced. However, he points out that despite the shrinking deficit, Social ...
Andrew Biggs: Two Social Security reforms have equal solvency impact but different debt effects
Andrew Biggs compares two Social Security reform proposals with identical effects on the program's solvency. However, he notes that one plan reduces the debt-to-GDP ratio by twice as much as the ...
Benefit-reduction reforms linked to higher GDP and lower debt ratio, Andrew Biggs analyzes
Andrew Biggs highlights new findings from the Penn Wharton Budget Model regarding Social Security reforms. According to his comments, the analysis shows that benefit-reduction reforms for Social ...
Andrew Biggs: Study details sources of new IRA contributions in U.S. and UK
Andrew Biggs highlights recent research by Attanasio, Banks, and Wakefield examining retirement tax preferences in the U.S. and UK. The study provides a clear explanation of the logic behind these ...
Giving up retirement assets for government debt is challenging, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs discusses the implications of directing investment accounts to acquire assets currently held by Americans saving for retirement. He notes that to facilitate such a shift, the ...
Andrew Biggs: Relationship between earnings and Social Security benefits is weak
Andrew Biggs writes that the R-squared of household lifetime earnings on household Social Security replacement rates is about 0.5, suggesting a moderate correlation. He adds that because ...
Budget deficit shifts by $1 billion for payroll tax changes, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs explains that if U.S. payroll taxes come in $1 billion above expectations this year, the federal budget deficit would fall by $1 billion. Conversely, if payroll taxes are $1 billion ...
Andrew Biggs: Social Security benefits for wealthy reduce savings and economic growth
Andrew Biggs highlights how Social Security benefits for high-income individuals can have negative effects on the economy. He explains that when wealthy individuals pay high Social Security taxes ...
Idea that pension costs may exceed benefits sparks discussion at conference, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs shares insights from his new working paper presented at the Pension Research Council’s spring conference. He raises questions about whether traditional well-funded defined benefit ...
Andrew Biggs: Top U.S. households receive 37% of Social Security and retirement tax benefits
Andrew Biggs highlights that Social Security retirement benefits, when combined with federal tax breaks for retirement savings, amount to 6% of U.S. GDP. He notes that the richest fifth of ...
Removing Social Security payroll tax cap means 12 percentage point increase for high earners, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs highlights conservative support for eliminating the Social Security payroll tax ceiling. He points out that this change would result in a significant tax increase of 12 percentage ...
Andrew Biggs: Asset-backed pensions contribute to higher measured wealth
Andrew Biggs comments on the treatment of wealth data, highlighting how pay-as-you-go pensions, which are not counted as wealth, can lead to an understatement of retirement savings. He uses ...
Social Security tax ceiling is higher than OECD metric, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs examines the Social Security tax maximum from a different perspective, suggesting that instead of focusing solely on the percentage of total earnings impacted by the tax, it is useful ...
Andrew Biggs: CPS data on retirement plan availability is unreliable
Andrew Biggs questions the reliability of the Current Population Survey (CPS) in assessing retirement plan availability. He points out that the CPS indicates declines in retirement plans that are ...
2030s retirees promised 33 percent higher benefits than lifetime taxes paid, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs points to Congressional Budget Office data showing that the average American set to retire in the 2030s is expected to receive 33 percent more in benefits than they contributed in ...
Andrew Biggs: Social Security maximum taxable wage in 1970 was $6,186
Andrew Biggs points out that in 1970, prior to major benefit increases in the 1970s, the Social Security maximum taxable wage was $6,186. He relates this historical context to current ...
Average Social Security income for two-person households is 2.15 times poverty line, Andrew Biggs notes
Andrew Biggs states that, when measured accurately, the average Social Security benefit for a two-person household amounts to 2.15 times the poverty threshold before factoring in any personal ...
Andrew Biggs: Social Security funding discussed on Broadcast Retirement Network
Andrew Biggs is addressing the topic of Social Security funding in a discussion with Jeffrey Snyder on the Broadcast Retirement Network. The conversation is focused on the current state and ...
