Social Security Replacement Rates for Alternative Earnings Benchmarks

TitleSocial Security Replacement Rates for Alternative Earnings Benchmarks
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2006
AuthorsMitchell, OS, Phillips, JWR
JournalBenefits Quarterly
Volume22
Issue4
Pagination37
Call Numbernewpubs20070125_Mitchell-Phillips_BQ
KeywordsRetirement Planning and Satisfaction, Social Security
Abstract

Social Security reform proposals are often presented in terms of their differential impacts on hypothetical or example workers. This article explores how different benchmarks produce different replacement rate outcomes. The authors use the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from the University of Michigan to evaluate how Social Security benefit replacement rates differ for actual versus hypothetical earner profiles, and examine whether these findings are sensitive to alternative definitions of replacement rates. They conclude that more precise analyses of possible distributional patterns from Social Security reform proposals would follow if benefit estimates were derived from actual earnings profiles, rather than hypothetical scaled patterns.

Endnote Keywords

Social Security and Public Pensions/Retirement Planning

Endnote ID

16940

Citation Key7103