Private Pensions and Public Policies

William G. Gale, John B. Shoven, Mark J. Warshawsky

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9780815796428
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Social Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The private pension system, together with Social Security, has provided millions of Americans with income security in retirement. But over the past thirty years, pension coverage has stagnated, leaving behind some vulnerable groups. Defined contribution plans have exposed workers to greater investment risk, while cash balance and other hybrid plans may have adverse effects on older workers caught in the transition. Pension regulations, infamous for their complexity, can be bewildering to policy analysts and policymakers. Private Pensions and Public Policies sheds timely and much-needed light on specific issues within the broader context and framework of pension reform. Contributors focus on topics that must be addressed in any reform effort, including the effects of the shift in emphasis toward defined contribution plans (after the 1974 Employee Retirement Income and Security Act) and hybrid plans (from the 1990s); regulatory issues such as nondiscrimination rules and contribution limits; how to increase the information available to participants and improve financial education; how participants in defined contribution plans make choices on questions such as asset allocation, back-loaded versus front-loaded saving, and annuities versus lump sum distributions; and the interaction of the private pension system with Social Security. Contributors include Robert L. Clark (North Carolina State University), Sylvester J. Schieber (Watson Wyatt Worldwide), Richard A. Ippolito (George Mason University School of Law), Alan L. Gustman (Dartmouth College), Thomas L. Steinmeier (Texas Tech University), John Karl Scholz (University of Wisconsin), Dean M. Maki, (JPMorgan Chase), William Even (Miami University of Ohio), Jagadeesh Gokhale (American Enterprise Institute), Laurence J. Kotlikoff (Boston University), Mark J. Warshawsky (TIAA-CREF Institute), Annika Sunden (Boston College), Andrew A. Samwick (Dartmouth College), David A. Wise (Harvard University), Joel Dickson (The Vanguard Group), Peter Merrill (PriceWaterhouseCoopers), Kent Smetters (Wharton School), Yuewu Xu (TIAA-CREF Institute), Janemarie Mulvey (Watson Wyatt Worldwide), Peter Orszag (Sebago Associates, Inc.), James M. Poterba (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), John B. Shoven (Stanford University), Clemens Sialm (University of Michigan), Leslie E. Papke (Michigan State University), Jeffrey R. Brown (Harvard University), and Michael Hurd (RAND Corporation).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Chapter 1. Introduction
• Chapter 2. The Transition to Hybrid Pension Plans in the United States: An Empirical Analysis
• Chapter 3. What People Don't Know about Their Pensions and Social Security
• Chapter 4. Financial Education and Private Pensions
• Chapter 5. Life-Cycle Saving, Limits on Contribution to DC Pension Plans, and Lifetime Tax Benefits
• Chapter 6. The Effects of Social Security Reform on Private Pensions
• Chapter 7. Pension Choices with Uncertain Tax Policy
• Chapter 8. The Design and Cost of Pension Guarantees
• Chapter 9. Effects of Nondiscrimination Rules on Pension Participation
• Chapter 10. Asset Location for Retirement Savers
• Chapter 11. Longevity-Insured Retirement Distribution from Pension Plans: Market and Regulatory Issues
• Glossary
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Index