The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About the US Retirement System Is Wrong

Americans, and the elected officials who represent them, are worried about retirement. Majorities of Americans tell pollsters they fear a "retirement crisis" of inadequate savings and incomes in old age. Some argue that our system of 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts layered on top of a base income from Social Security is an abject failure. Only a complete reboot that expands Social Security and abandons 401(k)s can avert the retirement crisis. But what if the entire narrative is wrong?

In The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About the US Retirement System Is Wrong, Andrew G. Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former official at the White House and Social Security Administration office, brings economic insights and hard data to bear on America's retirement savings situation. He finds a far more encouraging picture: Americans need significantly less income in old age than you might think. And, thanks to 401(k)s taking over for traditional pensions, Americans have more income in retirement than ever before. The US retirement system compares well to those of other developed countries. In fact, the typical US senior is among the richest in the world. The "retirement savings gap" is overwhelmingly due to governments not funding benefits they had promised.

The real risk is if America's retirement success story is derailed.

Andrew G. Biggs is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies Social Security reform, state and local government pensions, and public-sector pay and benefits. Before joining AEI, Biggs was the principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), where he oversaw SSA’s policy research efforts. In 2005, as an associate director of the White House National Economic Council, he worked on Social Security reform. In 2001, he joined the staff of the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Biggs has published widely in academic publications and in daily newspapers such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. He has also testified before Congress on numerous occasions. In 2013, the Society of Actuaries appointed Biggs co-vice chair of a blue ribbon panel tasked with analyzing the causes of underfunding in public pension plans and how governments can securely fund plans in the future. In 2014, Institutional Investor named him one of the 40 most influential people in the retirement world. In 2016, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to be a member of the financial control board overseeing reforms to Puerto Rico’s budget and the restructuring of the island’s debts. Biggs holds a bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, master’s degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.