RETIREMENT/title> </head> <body> ______________________________ <div style="direction:ltr"> <wbr>______________________________<wbr>_____<br/> <br/> SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH NETWORK<br/> <br/> EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, COMPENSATION & PENSION LAW ABSTRACTS<br/> Sponsored by Pension Governance, LLC<br/> Vol. 8, No. 24: July 24, 2007<br/> <br/> Editor: PAMELA J. PERUN<br/> Policy Director, Aspen Institute - Initiative on<br/> Financial Security<br/> <a href="mailto:PAMELA@PLANETNOW.COM">PAMELA@PLANETNOW.COM</a><br/> ______________________________<wbr>______________________________<wbr>_____<br/> <br/> BROWSE all abstracts in this subject:<br/> <a href="http://www.ssrn.com/link/benefits-compensation-pension-law.html" target="_blank">http://www.ssrn.com/link<wbr>/benefits-compensation-pension<wbr>-law.html</a><br/> <br/> SEARCH entire eLibrary at: <a href="http://ssrn.com/search" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/search</a><br/> <br/> If this document is misaligned, please set type face to a<br/> non-proportional font such as Courier 10.<br/> ______________________________<wbr>______________________________<wbr>_____<br/> <br/> Pension Governance, LLC is an independent information and<br/> business consulting services and research/analysis company for<br/> the pension community. News, interviews, white papers, surveys,<br/> training and industry events provide pension decision-makers,<br/> their attorneys, actuaries, auditors, consultants, money managers<br/> and third party administrators with information that is<br/> straightforward and created with investment fiduciary best<br/> practices in mind. To learn more, please visit<br/> <a href="http://www.pensiongovernance.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pensiongovernance<wbr>.com</a>,<br/> <a href="http://www.pensionriskmatters.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pensionriskmatters<wbr>.com</a> (blog) and<br/> <a href="http://www.pensionlitigationdata.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pensionlitigationda<wbr>ta.com</a>.<br/> <br/> Topic of This Issue:<br/> Retirement<br/> ______________________________<wbr>______________________________<wbr>_____<br/> <br/> T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S<br/> <br/> "Is Well-Being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?"<br/> DAVID G. BLANCHFLOWER<br/> Dartmouth College - Department of Economics, National<br/> Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Institute for the<br/> Study of Labor (IZA), Bank of England<br/> ANDREW J. OSWALD<br/> University of Warwick - Department of Economics,<br/> Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)<br/> <br/> "Private Pensions, the Tax Code, and the Erosion of Retirement<br/> Income Security"<br/> JOHN C. SCOTT<br/> Cornell University<br/> <br/> "Using Stated Preferences Data to Analyze Preferences for Full<br/> and Partial Retirement"<br/> ARTHUR VAN SOEST<br/> RAND Corporation, Institute for the Study of Labor<br/> (IZA), Tilburg University<br/> ARIE KAPTEYN<br/> RAND Corporation, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)<br/> JULIE M. ZISSIMOPOULOS<br/> The RAND Corporation<br/> <br/> "Income of the Elderly Population Age 65 and Over, 2005"<br/> KENNETH J. MCDONNELL<br/> Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)<br/> <br/> "The Stretch IRA versus the CRUT: Strategies for Leaving<br/> Retirement Funds to Beneficiaries"<br/> KEVIN J. SIGLER<br/> University of North Carolina at Wilmington - Department<br/> of Economics and Finance<br/> <br/> "Minority Workers Remain Confident About Retirement, Despite<br/> Lagging Preparations and False Expectations"<br/> RUTH HELMAN<br/> Mathew Greenwald & Associates<br/> JACK VANDERHEI<br/> Temple University - Risk Management & Insurance &<br/> Actuarial Science, Employee Benefit Research Institute<br/> (EBRI)<br/> CRAIG COPELAND<br/> Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)<br/> ______________________________<wbr>______________________________<wbr>_____<br/> <br/> "Is Well-Being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?"<br/> NBER Working Paper No. W12935<br/> <br/> <br/> Contact: DAVID G. BLANCHFLOWER<br/> Dartmouth College - Department of Economics,<br/> National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER),<br/> Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bank of<br/> England<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:BLANCHFLOWER@DARTMOUTH.EDU">BLANCHFLOWER@DARTMOUTH.EDU</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=42102" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=42102</a><br/> <br/> Co-Author: ANDREW J. OSWALD<br/> University of Warwick - Department of Economics,<br/> Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:Andrew.Oswald@warwick.ac.uk">Andrew.Oswald@warwick.ac.uk</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=63968" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=63968</a><br/> <br/> Full Text: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=965127" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract<wbr>=965127</a><br/> <br/> ABSTRACT: Recent research has argued that psychological<br/> well-being is U-shaped through the life cycle. The difficulty<br/> with such a claim is that there are likely to be omitted cohort<br/> effects (earlier generations may have been born in, say,<br/> particularly good or bad times). Hence the apparent U may be an<br/> artifact. Using data on approximately 500,000 Americans and<br/> Europeans, this paper designs a test that makes it possible to<br/> allow for different birth-cohorts. A robust U-shape of happiness<br/> in age is found. Ceteris paribus, well-being reaches a minimum,<br/> on both sides of the Atlantic, in people's mid to late 40s. The<br/> paper also shows that in the United States the well-being of<br/> successive birth-cohorts has gradually fallen through time. In<br/> Europe, newer birth-cohorts are happier.<br/> ______________________________<br/> <br/> "Private Pensions, the Tax Code, and the Erosion of Retirement<br/> Income Security"<br/> <br/> Contact: JOHN C. SCOTT<br/> Cornell University<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:jcs86@cornell.edu">jcs86@cornell.edu</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=836520" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=836520</a><br/> <br/> Full Text: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=998586" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract<wbr>=998586</a><br/> <br/> ABSTRACT: American workers are experiencing a long-term decline<br/> in the quality and quantity of retirement income security despite<br/> the enactment of dozens of tax laws supporting private pensions,<br/> hundreds of tax rules, and billions in lost tax revenue for over<br/> 40 years. Why is pension security eroding, and why is retirement<br/> income policy ineffective? I argue that the system of tax laws<br/> and institutions governing private pensions both directs<br/> political change as well as responses to such change in a way<br/> that is shifting risk onto workers. This paper grounds its review<br/> in the structure of pension law as found in the tax code. I first<br/> review general trends regarding retirement and retirement plans<br/> as well as the general pattern of tax legislation affecting<br/> pensions. In particular, I note the rise of the 401(k) plan,<br/> which has become the major type of private pension program in the<br/> United States. The combination of a diffuse set of tax laws<br/> governing pensions and the fragmented nature of key stakeholders<br/> creates an game-like environment in which each group and subgroup<br/> compete for changes in tax legislation at the expense of others.<br/> The paper concludes with an attempt to bridge fiscal sociology<br/> with the sociology of risk in the context of retirement policy.<br/> ______________________________<br/> <br/> "Using Stated Preferences Data to Analyze Preferences for Full<br/> and Partial Retirement"<br/> IZA Discussion Paper No. 2785<br/> <br/> <br/> Contact: ARTHUR VAN SOEST<br/> RAND Corporation, Institute for the Study of Labor<br/> (IZA), Tilburg University<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:VanSoest@rand.org">VanSoest@rand.org</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=52940" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=52940</a><br/> <br/> Co-Author: ARIE KAPTEYN<br/> RAND Corporation, Institute for the Study of Labor<br/> (IZA)<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:kapteyn@rand.org">kapteyn@rand.org</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=236448" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=236448</a><br/> <br/> Co-Author: JULIE M. ZISSIMOPOULOS<br/> The RAND Corporation<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:ziss@rand.org">ziss@rand.org</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=332680" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=332680</a><br/> <br/> Full Text: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=987490" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract<wbr>=987490</a><br/> <br/> ABSTRACT: Structural models explaining retirement decisions of<br/> individuals or households in an intertemporal setting are<br/> typically hard to estimate using data on actual retirement<br/> decisions, since choice sets are for a large part unobserved by<br/> the researcher. This paper describes an experiment in which both<br/> perceived retirement opportunities and preferences for retirement<br/> are measured. For the latter, respondents evaluate how attractive<br/> they find a number of hypothetical, simplified, retirement<br/> trajectories involving early retirement, late retirement, and<br/> gradual retirement, each with its own corresponding income path.<br/> The questions were fielded in the Dutch CentERpanel. The answers<br/> are used to estimate a stylized structural life-cycle model of<br/> retirement preferences. The results suggest that, for example,<br/> many respondents could be convinced to work part-time after age<br/> 65 before retiring completely at age 70 for a reasonable<br/> financial compensation. Simulations combining the information on<br/> perceived opportunities with estimated preferences illustrate the<br/> importance of employer imposed restrictions on retirement and the<br/> scope for increasing labor force participation of the elderly by<br/> creating opportunities for gradual retirement.<br/> ______________________________<br/> <br/> "Income of the Elderly Population Age 65 and Over, 2005"<br/> EBRI Notes, Vol. 28, No. 5, May 2007<br/> <br/> <br/> Contact: KENNETH J. MCDONNELL<br/> Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:MCDONNELL@EBRI.ORG">MCDONNELL@EBRI.ORG</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=297121" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=297121</a><br/> <br/> Full Text: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=987903" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract<wbr>=987903</a><br/> <br/> ABSTRACT: The U.S. retirement income system - including<br/> employment-based retirement plans, Social Security, individual<br/> saving, and post-retirement employment - can be assessed in part<br/> by examining the income of the current elderly population (age 65<br/> and older). This paper reviews the latest available data on the<br/> older population's income (from the U.S. Census Bureau's March<br/> 2006 Current Population Survey) and how it has changed over time,<br/> as well as how the elderly's reliance on these sources varies<br/> across demographic characteristics.<br/> <br/> The PDF for the above title, published in the May 2007 issue of<br/> EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another May 2007 EBRI<br/> Notes article abstracted on SSRN: "ERISA Pre-emption and Health<br/> Care Reform: A History Lesson."<br/> ______________________________<br/> <br/> "The Stretch IRA versus the CRUT: Strategies for Leaving<br/> Retirement Funds to Beneficiaries"<br/> Tax Notes, Vol. 115, No. 12, June 18, 2007<br/> <br/> <br/> Contact: KEVIN J. SIGLER<br/> University of North Carolina at Wilmington -<br/> Department of Economics and Finance<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:siglerk@uncw.edu">siglerk@uncw.edu</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=378282" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=378282</a><br/> <br/> Abstract: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=994131" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract<wbr>=994131</a><br/> <br/> ABSTRACT: Kevin J. Sigler reviews two strategies for leaving<br/> retirement plans to beneficiaries on the death of the plan owner:<br/> stretch IRAs and charitable remainder trusts.<br/> ______________________________<br/> <br/> "Minority Workers Remain Confident About Retirement, Despite<br/> Lagging Preparations and False Expectations"<br/> EBRI Issue Brief, No. 306, June 2007<br/> <br/> <br/> Contact: RUTH HELMAN<br/> Mathew Greenwald & Associates<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:RUTHHELMAN@GREENWALDRESEARCH.COM">RUTHHELMAN@GREENWALDRESEARCH<wbr>.COM</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=263460" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=263460</a><br/> <br/> Co-Author: JACK VANDERHEI<br/> Temple University - Risk Management & Insurance &<br/> Actuarial Science, Employee Benefit Research<br/> Institute (EBRI)<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:TEMPLE@VANDERHEI.COM">TEMPLE@VANDERHEI.COM</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=265706" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=265706</a><br/> <br/> Co-Author: CRAIG COPELAND<br/> Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:COPELAND@EBRI.ORG">COPELAND@EBRI.ORG</a><br/> Auth-Page: <a href="http://ssrn.com/author=255137" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/author=255137</a><br/> <br/> Full Text: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=993251" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract<wbr>=993251</a><br/> <br/> ABSTRACT: This paper presents findings from the 2007 Minority<br/> Retirement Confidence Survey (MRCS), a survey that gauges the<br/> views and attitudes of working-age African-Americans and<br/> Hispanics, their preparations for retirement, their confidence<br/> with regard to various aspects of retirement, and related issues.<br/> The survey was conducted Jan. 2-Feb. 8, 2007, through 21-minute<br/> telephone interviews with 500 African-Americans and 504 Hispanics<br/> age 25 and older in the United States. Comparison data for<br/> workers overall are from the 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey<br/> (RCS), a survey that included 1,001 workers age 25 and older in<br/> the United States. While some differences in preparation can be<br/> attributed to differences in income, other survey findings show<br/> that minorities are less prepared for retirement even among<br/> workers with similar levels of household income. The survey was<br/> sponsored by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute<br/> (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, a survey research firm,<br/> and was underwritten by a grant from The Rockefeller Foundation. </div> </body> </html>