Retirement on the Rocks : Why Americans Can't Get Ahead and How New Savings Policies Can Help

In the US, retirement savings are low while risk exposure is high, thus dooming many retirees to a low standard of living. This book offers straightforward solutions to build real retirement security for American families. "Jobs and wages have become less secure over the past thirty years, while stock and housing markets have gone through greater booms and busts at the same time. These factors alone make saving for retirement difficult, but a number of policy changes have also increasingly exposed household to these risks, making saving more difficult and more uncertain. Social Security offers fewer protections because of an increasing retirement age, and employees receive less help from their employers than in the past. More people have to figure out complex 'do-it-yourself' savings options while those who least need to save, because they have little risk exposure, tend to receive the greatest tax breaks for saving. The results have been fewer retirement savings, more uncertainty, and a direr outlook for a secure retirement for most Americans. Since savings are low and risk exposure is high because of past policy shortcomings, this book offers straightforward solutions to build real retirement security for American families."--Publisher's description Front Matter....Pages i-xi The Elusive Goal of a Secure Retirement....Pages 1-12 Americans’ Growing Risk Exposure....Pages 13-26 More Risk, Greater Wealth Inequality....Pages 27-40 The Looming Retirement Shipwreck....Pages 41-55 Social Security: The Leaky Lifeboat....Pages 57-71 Sink-or-Swim Retirement Plans....Pages 73-88 A Perfect Storm: Labor and Financial Market Risks Feed on Each Other....Pages 89-100 The Pitfalls of Employer-Sponsored Retirement....Pages 101-118 Upside-Down Tax Incentives....Pages 119-136 Sidelined: The Millions Who Are Left Out....Pages 137-150 Charting a New Course....Pages 151-164 Back Matter....Pages 165-223