Pension Wise: Confronting Employer Pension Underfunding-And Sparing Taxpayers the Next Bailout

by Charles Blahous

Overview

Charles Blahous, one of the nation's foremost retirement security experts, explains the origins and dangers of current underfunding in our single-employer defined-benefit pension system and outlines the options for solving the problem and preventing the next taxpayer-financed bailout. He provides a tutorial on the basic workings of pension law, reviews the recent history that led to the worsening condition of the pension insurance system, and suggests a range of reforms to improve the system's operation and to resolve the projected shortfall.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780817912147
Publisher:	Hoover Institution Press
Publication date:	11/01/2010
Series:	HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION Series
Edition description:	First Edition, 1st Edition
Pages:	84
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Charles Blahous, one of the nation's foremost retirement security experts, serves as one of two public Trustees for the Social Security and Medicare programs. Blahous served as deputy director of President George W. Bush's National Economic Council and, before that, as executive director of the president's bipartisan Social Security Commission and as special assistant for economic policy.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Abstract
 
Introduction
The Nature of Single-Employer Defined-Benefit Pensions
The Nation’s Pension Insurance System: The Condition of the PBGC
The Magnitude of Pension Underfunding Nationwide
Technical Reasons for Pension Underfunding
Pension Plan Assets
Pension Plan Liabilities
Addressing Underfunding: Statutory Contribution Requirements
Other Funding Safeguards Established by the PPA
Premiums
Recent Developments: Legislation and the Financial Markets’ Plunge
Additional Reasons for Underfunding: Structural Issues Facing the PBGC
Political Economy Factors

Pension Funding Policy Principles: Separating Measurement Accuracy from Value Judgments
Can the Hole be Filled? Separating Fairness from Risk Issues
Going Forward: General Principles for Pension Insurance System Reform
Conclusions and Recommendations
 
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Index