Categories
Terms and Conditions
All content expressed in the “Discuss” section of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) website are those of the author or authors and do not reflect the opinion of Academy staff or Board of Directors. The Academy reserves the right to edit or delete any comments deemed offensive or disrespectful.
Thinking about Retirement?
Social Security: Americans Agree VIDEO
.jpg)
Have you seen “Social Security: Americans Agree?” Click here to learn more.
Social Security: Just the Facts Video
Have you seen, “Social Security: Just the Facts?” Click here to learn more.
COVERED: a week-by-week look at the political and legislative developments that led to the creation of Medicare and Medicaid 50 years ago. Bob Rosenblatt, Academy senior fellow and former Los Angeles Times Washington correspondent will report on the people and the maneuvers that led to this major expansion of social insurance.
Social Security
New Ideas for the Next Social Security Reform
Last Thursday, big thinkers from around the country joined the Academy in Washington, DC to discuss how Social Security policy could respond to prevailing demographic, economic, and workforce trends. Video of the event can be accessed here. The policy options discussed were not the familiar “Lego pieces” of Social Security policy, as AARP’s Chief Public Policy Officer, Debra Whitman, put it in her closing remarks at the forum.
Read More…Inequality
Having recently completed my first year as the Academy’s Chief Executive Officer, I’ve reflected on my many interactions with Academy Members at our annual Membership meeting, Policy Conference, 30th Anniversary celebration, and other events that we have sponsored, as well as emails and phone conversations.
Among the questions most frequently posed to me are:
- Why has the Academy chosen “inequality” as our overarching strategic theme and framework?
- What does this mean for the Academy’s policy work?
Background
I first addressed this issue in a letter to the New York Times published in February 2015.
International Women's Day
.jpg)
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, let us recall the contributions to our nation’s vibrant social insurance infrastructure by those women who are no longer with us, but whose legacies remain strong.
Among these often unsung heroines are:
Read More…What You Need to Know about Social Security’s 2017 Cost-of-Living Adjustment
Tomorrow's announcement by the Social Security Administration about the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits, effective January 2017, is likely to be met with questioning and concerns by many current beneficiaries, particularly in an election year and after no COLA was received in 2016. (That marked only the third year without a COLA in four decades.)
Social Security’s annual COLA is intended to protect the purchasing power of benefits against erosion by price inflation. It is important to many beneficiaries that benefits keep up with the cost of living, because other sources of income typically decline with age. As individuals grow older, their pensions are eroded by inflation, employment options end, spouses cope with widowhood, and savings are depleted - and they rely even more on Social Security.
Read More…A Longevity Insurance Benefit for Social Security: An Innovation from the Past
In the United States, poverty rates for seniors increase at older ages. The rates are higher for persons age 75 and older than for persons age 65 to 74. Poverty rates increase at older ages because relatively more people fall into poverty as they age than exit poverty due to death. Persons who live longer may fall into poverty because of various life events -- their spouse dies, they have higher medical or long-term care expenses than expected, or their investment returns are worse than projected. As Americans live longer, they face an increased risk of outliving their savings.
