Does raising retirement age lead to a healthier transition to retirement? Evidence from the U.S. Social Security Amendments of 1983.

Governments are under pressure to raise the retirement age in response to an aging population and low fertility rates. However, the literature has not reached a consistent conclusion on the health effects of extending working lives. Furthermore, while most studies have concentrated on post-retirement health consequences, the health outcomes during the transition from work to retirement have been overlooked. Therefore, this article focuses on the transition period - the time between the early benefit age and full retirement age. Exploiting the increase in retirement age introduced by the U.S. Social Security Amendments of 1983, the difference-in-difference estimation finds that the reform successfully encouraged more people to work longer and claim benefits later, whilst having no adverse influence on health during the transition period. This paper infers that the desirable impacts of the 1983 amendments could be partly attributed to the adequate preparation time the reform left to the public.

Introducing an Austrian backpack in Spain.

In an overlapping generations economy with incomplete insurance markets, the introduction of an employment fund-akin to the one introduced in Austria in 2003, also known as 'Austrian backpack'-can enhance production efficiency and social welfare. It complements the two classical systems of public insurance: pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pensions and unemployment insurance (UI). We show this in a calibrated dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents of the Spanish economy in 2018. A 'backpack'  (BP) employment fund is an individual (across jobs) transferable fund, which earns a market interest rate as a return and is financed with a payroll tax (a BP tax). The worker can use the fund while unemployed or retired. Upon retirement, backpack savings can be converted into an (actuarially fair) retirement pension. To complement the existing PAYG pension and UI systems with a welfare maximizing 6% BP tax would raise welfare by 0.96% of average consumption at the new steady state, if we model Spain as an open economy. As a closed economy, there are important general equilibrium effects, and as a result, the social value of introducing the backpack is substantially greater: 16.14%, with a BP tax of 18%. In both economies, the annuity retirement option is an important component of the welfare gains.

Análise crítica da proposta de reforma da previdência social no Brasil entre os anos 2016 e 2018 / Critical analysis of the proposal for social security reform in Brazil between 2016 and 2018

Resumo: O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi a análise crítica da tentativa de contrarreforma da previdência que se materializou na Proposta de Emenda Constitucional n. 287/2016. A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa teórico-bibliográfica e o método foi o materialismo histórico. Os resultados da pesquisa mostraram que a ofensiva liberal conservadora pela retirada dos direitos previdenciários está relacionada aos interesses do capital financeiro para aumentar seus lucros à custa do Orçamento da União.

Abstract: This article aims a critical analysis from social-security reform emerged from the Proposal of Constitutional Amendment nº 287/2016. The methodology used is based on theoretical-bibliographic research and the method is a historical materialism. The research results present that the conservative-liberal attack to remove the social-security rights is linked to financial interests to increase profit at the expenses of Union budget.

Barriers to Later Retirement for Men: Physical Challenges of Work and Increases in the Full Retirement Age.

Policy changes intended to delay retirements of older workers and extend their work lives may run up against barriers owing to rising physical challenges of work as people age. We examine whether physical challenges at work influence employment transitions of older male workers in the age range for which public policy is trying to extend work lives and whether older male workers are able to mitigate these challenges while still remaining employed. The evidence indicates that physical challenges pose a barrier to extending work lives, although some older male workers with physically demanding jobs are able to mitigate these demands-either at new jobs or with the same employer. Our findings suggest that greater accommodation of physical challenges faced by older workers would likely increase the success of policies intended to induce later retirement.

Changes in Spending and Labor Supply in Response to a Social Security Benefit Cut: Evidence from Stated Choice Data.

We investigate how individuals in the U.S. expect to adjust their labor force participation and savings if Social Security benefits were cut by 30 percent. Respondents were asked directly what they would do under this scenario. Using the resulting stated choice data we find that respondents would on average reduce spending by 18.2 percent before retirement and 20.4 percent after retirement. About 34.1% of respondents state they would definitely work longer and they would postpone claiming Social Security by 1.1 years. We investigate how working longer and claiming Social Security later would compensate partially for the loss in benefits among the individuals who are currently working, under the assumption that individuals retire and claim at the same time. Individuals would increase their Social Security benefits from the post-reform level due to additional earnings entering the benefit calculation and a smaller early claiming penalty (or higher delayed claiming credit). As a result, the Social Security benefit people would receive would drop on average by 21 rather than 30 percent. Still, the net financial loss, even after accounting for additional earnings, is sizeable for individuals in the lowest wealth tertile.

How Do Management Fees Affect Retirement Wealth under Mexico's Personal Retirement Accounts System?

In 1997, Mexico transformed its pay-as-you-go social security system to a fully funded system with personal retirement accounts, including management fees. This article examines changes in retirement wealth resulting from this new system. It shows that management fees have drained a significant proportion of individuals' retirement wealth and have increased the number of persons claiming a government-subsidized minimum pension, particularly from the time the system was introduced in 1997 until adjustment to management fees in 2008. Since 2008, retirement wealth accumulation has been similar to that of the previous system. En 1997, México transformó su sistema de pensiones basado en cotizaciones individuales a uno de ahorro para el retiro que incluyen cuotas por la administración de las cuentas. El presente estudio examina los cambios en el monto de las pensiones como resultado de la introducción del nuevo sistema. Los resultados muestran que las cuotas de administración han drenado una proporción significativa del ahorro para el retiro de los individuos por lo que ha aumentado el número de personas que solicita la pensión mínima garantizada subsidiada por el gobierno desde que se introdujo el sistema en 1997 hasta que se hicieron ajustes en las cuotas de administración de los fondos de pensiones en 2008. A partir de 2008, la acumulación del ahorro para el retiro ha sido similar que la del sistema anterior.