70% Of Pre-Retirement Earnings, Guaranteed for Life: Teresa Ghilarducci, The New School, Proposes a Viable Pension Plan That Provides Older Americans with the Financial Stability They Need

Business Wire,  May 27, 2008  

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NEW YORK -- In When I'm Sixty Four: The Plot against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them (Cloth $29.95, ISBN: 978-0-691-11431-6, Pub date: June 11, 2008), economist and retirement reform expert Teresa Ghilarducci shows that the transition from guaranteed benefit programs like pensions to guaranteed contribution programs like 401(k)s has been disastrous for most Americans. While many of us look forward to a leisurely life in retirement, financed by our 401(k)s and the equity of our homes, the reality is that for over 70% of Americans, the majority of our retirement income will come from Social Security and that less than a fifth of our income will come from personal finances, including 401 (k) plans. In fact, the average American, approaching retirement age, has just $50,000 in their 401(k) plan and $73,000 in home equity--a meager cushion in the face of rising healthcare and housing costs.

When I'm Sixty-Four makes a no-holds-barred argument for a new national pension program. Ghilarducci proposes a new system of Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) that would provide working citizens with a guaranteed income of 70% of their pre-retirement earnings. Ghilarducci proposes limiting tax exemptions on 401 (k)s and other voluntary retirement accounts and using the savings to finance the GRA program. Her solution costs the government nothing and provides retirement savings for millions people who currently have none.

Ghilarducci provides a new way of thinking about retirement--when and how we should expect to retire; how the experiences of white and blue collar workers, men and women differ; and how the decisions we make today impact our quality of life in retirement--that will be of interest to every working American.

Praise for the Book:

"Policymakers know that the baby boomers are facing a precarious retirement future. But most baby boomers do not appear to be concerned. Ghilarducci's analysis is a warning call designed to shake up the complacency. She proposes a bold plan to shore up the eroding economic foundations of retirement in America." --Laura D'Andrea Tyson, University of California, Berkeley

"At last! A robust, reliable, and highly readable reaffirmation of the right to retire. Teresa Ghilarducci is America's leading pension economist, defender of Social Security, and scourge of schemes to bilk the elderly. Here she tells it straight: what's right, what's wrong, and what should be done." --James K. Galbraith, University of Texas, Austin

About the Author:

Teresa Ghilarducci, after having taught economics for twenty-five years at the University of Notre Dame, now holds the Irene and Bernard L. Schwartz Chair of Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research. She is also the 2006-2008 Wurf Fellow at Harvard Law School. Her books include Labor's Capital: The Economics and Politics of Private Pensions.

WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR

The Plot against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them

Teresa Ghilarducci

Cloth | ISBN: 978-0-691-11431-6 | $29.95 / PS17.95

384 pp. | 6 x 9 | 7 line illus. 28 tables.

Pub date: June 11, 2008

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