Jobs and wages have become less secure over the past thirty years, while stock and housing markets have gone through greater booms and busts at the same time. These factors alone make saving for retirement difficult, but a number of policy changes have also increasingly exposed household to these risks, making saving more difficult and more uncertain. Social Security offers fewer protections because of an increasing retirement age, and employees receive less help from their employers than in the past. More people have to figure out complex "do-it-yourself" savings options while those who least need to save, because they have little risk exposure, tend to receive the greatest tax breaks for saving. The results have been fewer retirement savings, more uncertainty, and a direr outlook for a secure retirement for most Americans. Since savings are low and risk exposure is high because of past policy shortcomings, this book offers straightforward solutions to build real retirement security for American families.

Auteur

Christian E. Weller is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston, USA, and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, USA. He is a prolific author with well over 100 journal articles, edited volumes, book chapters, book reviews, and other publications, in addition to numerous policy reports and briefs. He serves on several editorial boards and is a past member of the executive boards of the Eastern Economic Association and the Labor and Employment Relations Association.

Résumé

In the US, retirement savings are low while risk exposure is high, thus dooming many retirees to a low standard of living. This book offers straightforward solutions to build real retirement security for American families.

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