Financing Old Age Dependency

Baby boomers are now retiring in large numbers, and most do not have enough assets of their own to finance retirement. Social insurance programs help baby boomers afford retirement, but these programs are substantially underfunded. Reforming these institutions earlier will produce fewer distortions than continued delays. Several options also exist for helping households prepare for their own retirement: improving financial literacy, more opt-out defaults, better guidance about the value of delaying retirement, better guidance about delaying the claiming of social security benefits, improved estimation of out-of-pocket medical costs, and understanding the incentives facing their financial advisors. Some of these options are likely to be more effective than others.