Optimal Claiming of Social Security Benefits

The Optimal Design of Social Security Benefits

Th is research examines the ex-ante optimal U.S. Social Security benefi t structure using the model developed in Nishiyama and Smetters (2007). Whereas NS2007 analyzed the effi ciency of diff erent, specifi c alternative designs of the U.S. Social Security system, the current paper attempts to derive the ex-ante best system design among a larger range of diff erent potential Social Security fo...

Probabilistic Thinking and Social Security Claiming

This study analyzes the extent to which an individual’s survival expectations influence his or her decision to claim social security benefits at an early age. We find that subjective survival probabilities capture meaningful behavioral responses to incentives for early Social Security claiming when they are purged of measurement error using risk factors as instruments. Among people who are stil...

Early Claiming of Social Security Benefits and Labor Supply Behavior of Older Americans.

The labor supply incentives provided by the early retirement rules of the United States Social Security Old Age benefits program are of growing importance as the Normal Retirement Age (NRA) increases to 67, and the labor force participation of Older Americans starts to increase. These incentives allow individuals who claim benefits before the NRA but continue to work, or return to the labor for...

Probabilistic Thinking and Early Social Security Claiming

Have people delayed claiming retirement benefits? Responses to changes in Social Security rules.

This article examines changes in the age at which people claim Social Security retirement benefits in response to two recent changes in the Social Security rules: the removal of the retirement earnings test at ages 65 to 69 in 2000 and the gradual increase in the full retirement age (FRA) for those born in 1938 or later. Data come from the 1 percent sample of Social Security administrative data...