Too many Americans reach retirement age without adequate savings. Social Security, pensions, and retirement accounts should work together to help Americans build a secure retirement without burdening future generations.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
The Heritage Foundation offers a detailed plan to redesign entitlement programs, guarantee assistance to those who need it, and save the American dream for future generations. Read More.
Automatic IRAs would feature direct payroll deposits to a low-cost, diversified individual retirement accounts, enabling Americans not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan the opportunity to save for retirement. Read More.
The Social Security system is a major source of income for many retirees, but the fundamentals of the system are weak. As 78 million baby boomers approach retirement, it is time for the system to be reformed and placed on a sustainable course. Read More.
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.” —John F. Kennedy “Lawmakers should not delay addressing the long-run financial…
Testimony before The Committee on Ways and Means United States House of Representatives …
Serious pension funding issues have no place being hidden in a transportation funding bill. This is especially true if the pension language could cause an even greater taxpayer bailout of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Shifting Private Pension Costs to…
In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…
Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…
Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011. The United States has long reached the…
After a year of unproductive brinksmanship, Congress and the President enter 2012 facing the same intractable budget problems as before: a fourth consecutive deficit expected to be $1 trillion or higher, spending that consumes nearly one-fourth of the economy’s total output, and an entitlement-driven fiscal disaster that has drawn…
Although underfunded state and local government public pension plans pose a very real threat to our national economy, “a federal bailout of the states should be avoided at all costs,” says a new report by the Senate Finance Committee Republican staff.[1] This is an appropriate policy response. The…
Abstract: The military’s health care and retirement systems have serious structural problems. Simply tinkering around the edges will leave military personnel and taxpayers paying more for less service. Instead, as The Heritage Foundation proposes, Congress should transform the military health care and retirement systems…
The defense budget is currently underfunded to compensate the professional all-volunteer U.S. force adequately and modernize the inventory of all the services. Military benefits and entitlements must be addressed to strengthen the force and ensure that those in uniform are not given fewer benefits in the future. Like the rising…
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits…
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs for the President’s bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, released a co-chairs’ report today. Since it is a preliminary report from the chairs, it should be viewed as a model for discussion and seeding ideas for the final commission report. As such,…
Abstract: The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act could be considered an excellent piece of legislation--if, that is, the goal of the legislation was to ensure massive Social Security deficits without creating a single new job. Yet another attempt by the federal government to coerce companies into hiring more…
Starting this year, Social Security will spend more in benefits than it will receive from its payroll taxes. This is somewhat unexpected as just last year, the 2009 cash surplus was predicted to be about $80 billion. Even in May of this year, the program's actuaries predicted a roughly $19 billion surplus.…
As an antidote to months of Obama Administration rhetoric that Social Security “isn’t the problem,”[1] three Senators have produced legislation that both recognizes the program’s financial realities and would fix it for the next 75 years. The Social Security Solvency and Sustainability Act, S. 804, introduced by Senators…
The House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as tomorrow on H.R. 1173, the Fiscal Responsibility and...…
Last week's presidential debate at the Reagan Library elevated Social Security as a national issue that could reshape...…
Social Security took center stage at last night’s Republican presidential debate, emerging as a key issue among...…
In the past 30 years, U.S. life expectancy has increased by an average of five years. Since 1935, when Social Security...…
This year, Social Security paid out more money than it took in for the first time since 1983. If the economy rebounds,...…
Distinguished Fellow and Director, Center for Policy Innovation
Director, Center for Data Analysis and Lazof Family Fellow
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions