 Reforming Social Security: Issues and Challenges for Personal Retirement AccountsMPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Abstract: We seek to analyze a number of important issues related to the ownership of government pensions. In the United States, Social Security is operated on a pay-as-you-go basis, with some limited pre-funding to prepare for the baby boom retirement. Moving toward more of a defined contribution system will require accounting for many details. Social Security will still need to find ways to cover its unfunded liabilities to past and present retirees, as well as to workers who have paid into the system. There are also many issues which will need to be clarified regarding the ownership of personal accounts: will participation be voluntary or mandatory, will annuitization be required, and how freely can participants choose their investment strategy. An assessment of personal accounts must also fully incorporate the role of disability benefits and survivor benefits. Finally, what will happen in the new system if the accounts do not achieve their expected returns? We use the example of the United States to highlight many important issues faced by countries looking to use defined-contribution pensions as a response to aging populations. Keywords: Social Security Reform; Personal Retirement Accounts; Public Finance (search for similar items in EconPapers) Published in East and West Studies 1.19(2007): pp. 215-242 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:19034 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC. |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.