Shortly before his humiliation and expulsion from public life, Florida Senator Marco Rubio resurrected the idea of allowing some non-government employees to invest in the Thrift Savings Plan, which is the federal equivalent of private-sector 401(k) and non-profit 403(b) plans. The proposal got some sympathetic attention from lazy personal finance journalists, and some critical … [Read more...] about Everyone should have access to the federal Thrift Savings Plan, but not for you reason you think
social security
The risks of specialized knowledge
The other day, I received an invitation to an event at the Brookings Institution called "The new American dream: Retirement security." This seemed right up my alley, so I clicked through to see the event details. The description starts off with some generic language: "The American dream has drawn millions to the 'land of opportunity' and long encapsulated the idea that every … [Read more...] about The risks of specialized knowledge
Marco Rubio wants to end retirement security for you and everyone you know and love
It's often pointed out that Americans are the only people in the developed world who don't have access to guaranteed paid leave from their jobs to care for themselves and their families. But that's not exactly right: while we don't have a nationwide paid family leave program, lots of people in America do have access to paid family leave. According to the National … [Read more...] about Marco Rubio wants to end retirement security for you and everyone you know and love
The Social Security magic trick
I often say I like writing about money because it's an area of human activity that naturally lends itself to my unfortunate literal tendency. Today's post is a good example of what I mean by that. Everybody knows Social Security retirement benefits rise the longer you delay claiming them Usually this is framed as an incentive to "delay retirement" or "keep working" past age … [Read more...] about The Social Security magic trick
Do we have a retirement savings crisis or a retirement income crisis (or neither)?
I'd like to set some facts up on the board: In 1966, prior to the Johnson Administration's "War on Poverty," 28.5% of Americans over the age of 65 were living below the poverty line. In 2012, just 9.1% were; Since 1978, the number of workers covered by defined benefit pension plans has been in steady decline. in 2013, 39.5% of new female filers and 35.6% of new male … [Read more...] about Do we have a retirement savings crisis or a retirement income crisis (or neither)?