Most married men claim Social Security benefits at age 62 or 63, well short of both Social Security’s Full Retirement Age and the age that maximizes the household’s expected present value of benefits (EPVB). This results in a loss of less than 4 percent in household EPBV. But essentially the...

This paper summarizes what is known about the labor supply of older men, defined as those 55 and over. The topic is of great interest because older individuals will comprise a much greater portion of the population, so their labor supply will have a significant impact on national output, tax...

In the early 1980s, Congress responded to the Social Security program's long-term financing shortfall, in part, by raising the Full Retirement Age (FRA) from 65 to 67. When fully phased in, for those who turn 62 in 2022, workers will have to wait an additional two years to get the same monthly...

Most married men claim Social Security benefits at age 62 or 63, well short of the age that maximizes the expected present value of the average household's benefits. That many married men "leave money on the table" is surprising. It is also problematic. It results in much lower benefits for...

Workers often say they want to retire gradually. As retirement is a sharp break with life as they know it, it's not surprising that many prefer to negotiate the transition a step at a time. Many policymakers also view gradual retirement favorably. They see it as a way to extend careers, shorten...

The experience of the reformed Railroad Retirement program has lessons for initiatives that would invest Social Security assets in equities: * To address the risk in equity investment, Congress would likely require an automatic adjustment mechanism to keep the program “on track.” * The...

The primary concern of Congress in enacting the Railroad Retirement and Survivor’s Improvement Act of 2001 was the risk of political influence on investment decisions. A secondary concern was the financial performance of the redesigned program. The experience to date supports the notion that...

Job-changing among late-career workers increased steadily from the 1980s through the mid-2000s before declining somewhat in recent years. This study asks how the rise in job-changing – which seems largely voluntary – affects retirement timing and whether this effect varies by a key measure...