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Working for a Good Retirement

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Government Spending on the Elderly

Abstract

One way of relieving the economic pressures created by an aging population is to encourage workers to delay retirement. When people leave the workforce, they forgo earnings. To replace these earnings, many retirees begin collecting pensions and/or drawing down their assets. Most retirees also begin collecting Social Security benefits. At the same time, retirees pay fewer taxes — not just payroll taxes that support Social Security, but also federal, state, and local income taxes that support other government programs. Thus, the retirement of the boomer generation, some 76 million people, is expected to have a large impact on individuals, the retirement system, and the economy.

The research reported herein was performed pursuant to a grant from the US Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). The opinions and conclusions are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of SSA or any agency of the Federal Government or of the CRR, or the Urban Institute, its board, or its sponsors. The authors thank Richard Johnson for his advice on this and related projects.

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© 2007 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Butrica, B.A., Smith, K.E., Steuerle, C.E., Schmidt, L.G. (2007). Working for a Good Retirement. In: Papadimitriou, D.B. (eds) Government Spending on the Elderly. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230591448_6

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