Brookings Press Blog

Working Longer Could Save Your Retirement Plan

Launching into a New Age for Retirement

Retirement seems farther off than anticipated for some, but authors Alicia Munnell and Steven Sass provide a solution in order to keep your retirement plan intact and within reach.

We all know that the third time is the charm, three strikes mean you’re out, and the genie only grants you three wishes. What you might not know, is that the number three could also be the magic number that rescues your retirement plan. Working Longer, a new book from the Brookings Institution Press, tackles the slowly aging question about aging: how can retirement plans be salvaged? Authors Alicia Munnell and Steven Sass conclude that the key to increasing retirement income lies in pushing the retirement age from 63 to 66.

Upon analyzing the pros and cons associated with elderly employees in the work place, Wall Street Journal writer David Wessel describes Munnell and Sass’ suggestion as a silver lining in the problem. In his article “Older Staffers Get Uneasy Embrace”, Wessel surmises that “Lengthening life spans don't mean you have to find a boss who will let you work forever…delaying retirement three or four years—to 66, instead of 62, say—will boost retirement income by a third.” The question is does this theory hold any water? More importantly, when you turn 63 will you be in the position to work for three more years? Munnell and Sass answer these questions and more with their findings in Working Longer.

John H. Biggs, former chairman and CEO of TIAA-CREF, is justified in pointing out that “We have made remarkable progress in improving health and longevity. Now we need to figure out how to finance the substantially longer retirements these gains have produced.”

Regarding Working Longer Briggs also comments that "Anyone who is interested in preparing our country for a better retirement future should read this elegant essay."

Read Working Longer for yourself and find out where you stand on this important issue, because whether you’re three years away from retirement or thirty, a new plan might be the best thing for us all.

- Read David Wessel’s article “Older Staffers Get Uneasy Embrace” on wsj.com.

- Learn more about how Working Longer can save your retirement plan.

Twenty-First Century Gateways

New book examines the popular destinations of immigrants

As we have seen in 2008’s Presidential Election, the issue of immigration has reemerged once again. In Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America (Brookings Institution Press, 2008), a multidisciplinary group of top-flight analysts focus on the fastest-growing immigrant populations in metropolitan areas with previously low levels of immigration—places such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C. Today, one in five immigrants live in these gateways. This book explores how the pace of change in this new geography of immigration has presented many local areas with challenges—social, fiscal, and political.

“In their remarkable new book, Singer, Hardwick, and Brettell reveal the new contours of immigrant adaptation and reception in places with little experience of immigration within living memory. Through nine carefully chosen case studies, Twenty-First Century Gateways offers new insights into the promises and pitfalls of America's diverse, multi-ethnic future.”—Douglas S. Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University

- Learn more about Twenty-First Century Gateways.

Opportunity 08: Independent Ideas for America's Next President

Brookings book launches an intense focus on issues, not partisanship

The book Opportunity 08 emerges from a special bipartisan project created by Brookings, in partnership with ABC News, to offer solutions to America’s most pressing policy challenges. This new book will help candidates, the media, and voters focus on the critical issues at stake in the first presidential election since 1928 that does not include an incumbent president or vice president.

The diverse roster of contributors to Opportunity 08 reflects an impressive breadth of expertise, opinions, and political beliefs. This team of experts addresses voters’ demand to hear more about issues and less about partisan politics by presenting authoritative analysis and innovative policy solutions on a wide array of domestic and foreign policy questions.

Furthermore, this volume contextualizes these crafted plans for action by explaining not simply what should be done but why it should be done. This framework serves as a launching pad for a sharp focus on specific issues, which shapes the three distinct sections of the book. Part One of the book is titled "Our World," and its topics include the challenge of dealing with Iran, the rise of China, climate change, oil dependence, Middle East peace and the future of Iraq. Part Two, "Our Society," features accessible treatment of domestic issues such as voting reform; housing policy; poverty, inequality, and upward economic mobility. Part III, "Our Prosperity," tackles vexing problems such as the budget deficit, health care access and quality, retirement security, and the challenge of strengthening information technology in the United States.

- Learn more about Opporunity 08.

- Learn more about the Opportunity 08 Research Project.

Author Insight

Patashnik Discusses How Government Can Promote the General Welfare

Erik Patashnik, coauthor (with Alan Gerber) of Promoting the General Welfare, appeared yesterday on Insight, an hour-long talk show produced by NPR affiliate WRMA.  In the segment entitled "Sham Surgery," Patashnik discussed why some popular surgical procedures are not necessarily backed up by sound science, and what alternative approaches the U.S. government should take in dealing with matters involving science and health care.

Promoting the General Welfare takes on health care, transportation, education, and housing, as examples of areas where the government often fails to promote the common good, despite great possibilities for doing so.  But this innovative book also carries a more hopeful message. By identifying possible solutions to the problems created by weak incentives, poor information, and inadequate institutional capacity, it offers real solutions to improve government performance.

- Listen to "Sham Surgery" on WRMA.

- Learn more about Promoting the General Welfare.

Work over Welfare

Event Marks the Anniversary of Welfare Reform

On November 16, the Brookings Institution and the Annie E. Casey Foundation will mark the 10th anniversary of historic welfare reform legislation by hosting a discussion with key participants in the formation and passage of the law. Ron Haskins, Brookings senior fellow and author of Work over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law will open the session. Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich and the Honorable Charles Stenholm will give keynote addresses. The event will also feature a panel that includes scholars, advocates, former government officials, and a state representative.

- Event information and registration.

- Learn more about Work over Welfare.