The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know about the Us Retirement System Is Wrong

About this book

This is a provocative, data-driven challenge to the conventional wisdom on retirement, where AEI senior fellow and former Social Security Administration official Andrew G. Biggs takes on the so-called retirement crisis, examining Social Security, 401(k)s, pensions, and retirement savings to reveal why Americans may be far better prepared for old age than the headlines suggest, and what could actually threaten that success. Americans, and the elected officials who represent them, are worried about retirement. Majorities of Americans tell pollsters they fear a "retirement crisis" of inadequate savings and incomes in old age. Some argue that our system of 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts layered on top of a base income from Social Security is an abject failure. Only a complete reboot that expands Social Security and abandons 401(k)s can avert the retirement crisis. But what if the entire narrative is wrong? In The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About the US Retirement System Is Wrong, Andrew G. Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former official at the White House and Social Security Administration office, brings economic insights and hard data to bear on America's retirement savings situation. He finds a far more encouraging picture: Americans need significantly less income in old age than you might think. And, thanks to 401(k)s taking over for traditional pensions, Americans have more income in retirement than ever before. The US retirement system compares well to those of other developed countries. In fact, the typical US senior is among the richest in the world. The "retirement savings gap" is overwhelmingly due to governments not funding benefits they had promised. The real risk is if America's retirement success story is derailed.

Details

Format

Hardcover

ISBN-13

9780844750811

Publisher

AEI Press

Published

April 8, 2025

Pages

300

Weight

24.2 oz

Subject

Political Science