The contributors to this volume assess the impact of policies and regulations and provide detailed analysis of specific components of the pension system, including taxation, Social Security reform, hybrid plans, pension guarantees, and nondiscrimination rules

Pensions are widely thought to be attractive tax shelters which encourage saving for retirement. They allow people to save before-tax dollars and to compound investment returns without current taxation. However, the taxation of pension assets as they are distributed in retirement or as they pass...

In the past several decades, pension plans have become one of the most significant institutional influences on labor and financial markets in the U.S. In an effort to understand the economic effects of this growth, the National Bureau of Economic Research embarked on a major research project in...

Delaying Social Security claiming is equivalent to buying an annuity, as individuals who delay forgo current benefits in exchange for higher monthly benefits in the future. Despite growing evidence that this annuity is offered on extremely generous terms, the majority of people claim well before...

Pensions are widely thought to be attractive tax shelters which encourage saving for retirement. They allow people to save before-tax dollars and to compound investment returns without current taxation. However, the taxation of pension assets as they are distributed in retirement or as they pass...

The private pension system, together with Social Security, has provided millions of Americans with income security in retirement. But over the past thirty years, pension coverage has stagnated, leaving behind some vulnerable groups. Defined contribution plans have exposed workers to greater...