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.
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… 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 Projected long-run program costs for both Medicare and Social… Read more
Runaway spending and deficits continue to grow unabated in part because any attempts to rein them in are relentlessly demagogued by defenders of big government. The latest example is the budget recently authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and passed by the House of Representatives. … Read more
Saving the American Dream is The Heritage Foundation’s plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a decade—and keeps it balanced. It reduces the debt and cuts government… Read more
AT 75, Social Security is starting to show its age. The major source of retirement income for millions of Americans, Social Security has a significant deficit in cash flow.Worse, its long-term picture is bleak. Social Security owes $7.7 trillion more in benefits than it will take in from… Read more
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… Read more
Abstract: Americans are living longer, which means they are spending a higher proportion of their lives in retirement, receiving Social Security payments. Yet the government program is a mere five years away from being unable to pay out all of the claims it has promised. Because today’s retirees enjoy… Read more
As political leaders debate how best to fix Social Security, many policymakers are focusing on the wrong issue. Their sole concern seems to be the date when the Social Security retirement and survivors trust fund will run out of its paper assets. This mistaken emphasis misses the fundamental point about Social Security's… Read 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.… Read more
The House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as tomorrow on H.R. 1173, the Fiscal Responsibility and...… Read more
Last week's presidential debate at the Reagan Library elevated Social Security as a national issue that could reshape...… Read more
Social Security took center stage at last night’s Republican presidential debate, emerging as a key issue among...… Read more
In the past 30 years, U.S. life expectancy has increased by an average of five years. Since 1935, when Social Security...… Read more
This year, Social Security paid out more money than it took in for the first time since 1983. If the economy rebounds,...… Read more
Distinguished Fellow and Director, Center for Policy Innovation
Director, Center for Data Analysis
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