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What Does It Cost To Guarantee Returns?

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  • Alicia H. Munnell
  • Alex Golub-Sass
  • Richard W. Kopcke
  • Anthony Webb

Abstract

The financial crisis has dramatically demonstrated how a collapse in equity prices can decimate retirement accounts. The crisis highlights the fragility of existing 401(k) plans as the only supplement to Social Security and has sparked proposals to reform the retirement income system. One component of such a system could be a new tier of retirement accounts. Given the declines in the share of earnings Social Security will replace, these accounts would bolster replacement rates for low-wage workers and increase the security of middle- and upper-wage workers who increasingly rely on their 401(k) plans to supplement Social Security. However, these new accounts could face the same risk of collapse in value seen over the past year in 401(k)s. So policymakers may find some form of guaranteed return or risk sharing desirable to prevent huge variations in outcomes. This brief explores the feasible range and the cost of the first option – guarantees...

Suggested Citation

  • Alicia H. Munnell & Alex Golub-Sass & Richard W. Kopcke & Anthony Webb, 2009. "What Does It Cost To Guarantee Returns?," Issues in Brief ib2009-9-4, Center for Retirement Research, revised Feb 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2009-9-4
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    File URL: http://crr.bc.edu/briefs/what-does-it-cost-to-guarantee-returns/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Martin Feldstein & Elena Ranguelova, 2001. "Individual Risk in an Investment-Based Social Security System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1116-1125, September.
    4. Alicia H. Munnell & Dan Muldoon, 2008. "Are Retirement Savings Too Exposed to Market Risk?," Issues in Brief ib2008-8-16, Center for Retirement Research, revised Oct 2008.
    5. Gary Burtless, 2000. "How Would Financial Risk Affect Retirement Income Under Individual Accounts?," Issues in Brief ib-5, Center for Retirement Research.
    6. Alicia H. Munnell & Anthony Webb & Alex Golub-Sass, 2008. "How Much Risk is Acceptable?," Issues in Brief ib2008-8-20, Center for Retirement Research, revised Nov 2008.
    7. Marie-Eve Lachance & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2003. "Guaranteeing Individual Accounts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 257-260, May.
    8. Black, Fischer & Scholes, Myron S, 1973. "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 637-654, May-June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivia S. Mitchell, 2018. "Enhancing risk management for an aging world," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory, Springer;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 43(2), pages 115-136, September.
    2. Ashby H.B. Monk & Steven A. Sass, 2009. "Risk Pooling and the Market Crash: Lessons From Canada's Pension Plan," Issues in Brief ib2009-9-12, Center for Retirement Research, revised Jun 2009.
    3. Romp, Ward & Beetsma, Roel, 2020. "Sustainability of pension systems with voluntary participation," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 125-140.
    4. Beetsma, R. & Romp, W., 2016. "Intergenerational Risk Sharing," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 311-380, Elsevier.

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