Beginning this year, people can convert all or a portion of their traditional IRA balances into Roth IRAs. Although this new allowance for conversions applies explicitly to traditional IRAs, it also applies indirectly to balances in 401(k) plans that workers hold with former employers. These old...

The labor force participation of men age 60-74 has increased in recent years. Since reaching a post-World War-II low point in 1993, the share of such older men either working or looking for work jumped about 11 percentage points, from 33 percent in 1993 to 44 percent in 2010. The increase came...

The brief’s key findings are: *Medicaid covers not only the low-income elderly but also those with higher incomes who become impoverished by health costs, such as nursing home care. *The percentage of high-income single retirees receiving Medicaid rises with age – from near zero for those in...

The release of the Federal Reserve’s 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is a great opportunity to assess how conflicting forces – the maturation of the system and the Pension Protection Act of 2006 on the one hand and the devastating effects of the 2008 financial collapse and Great...

A recent Issue in Brief projected that, under the most likely scenario, the aggregate funded ratio for state and local pension plans will increase from 73 percent in 2012 to 81 percent in 2016. The “optimistic” and “pessimistic” scenarios assume higher or lower, but also constant, rates...

The brief’s key findings are: Commentators question whether pension coverage is a serious problem, indicating that 80 percent have access to a plan. But this number refers to access – not participation – and to full-time workers in both the public and private sectors. A review of four...

The brief’s key findings are: *The National Retirement Risk Index framework is used to address how much working-age households need to save for retirement. *A typical household should get a third of its retirement income from a savings plan, with the low income needing one quarter and the high...

Accessing home equity will become increasingly important in a world where retirement needs are expanding – people are living longer and face rapidly rising health care costs – and the retirement system is contracting – Social Security replacement rates are declining and employer-provided...

The National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) measures the share of working-age American households “at risk” of being unable to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living in retirement. The Index is calculated by comparing households’ projected replacement rates – retirement income as...

The release of the Federal Reserve’s 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances is a great opportunity to reassess Americans’ retirement preparedness as measured by the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI). The NRRI shows the share of working households who are “at risk” of being unable to...