Originally published in听Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.听
鈥淎ndrew and I usually have opposing views鈥攈e is conservative, and I鈥檓 more liberal,鈥� says听Alicia Munnell, director of, speaking of听, an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow. In 2017,听The Wall Street Journal听highlighted their differences under the headline, 鈥淚s There Really a Retirement-Savings Crisis?鈥� Biggs argued there wasn鈥檛 a crisis, while Munnell said there was.听
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Now, the two retirement experts are combining forces. Earlier this year, the center published a proposal by Munnell and Biggs titled听鈥澨齀n it, they make a bold statement: 鈥淭he case is strong for eliminating the current tax expenditures on retirement plans, and using the increase in tax revenues to address Social Security鈥檚 long-term financing shortfall.鈥�
Tax deductions for contributions to retirement plans primarily benefit high earners while failing to boost national savings significantly, according to the听research. They suggest that if the federal government eliminated tax benefits for 401(k)s/IRAs, it would collect an additional $185 billion in tax revenue. That would help shore up Social Security, which will be unable to pay full benefits in about 10 years without any policy changes.
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The proposal drew extensive media coverage, which didn鈥檛 surprise Munnell, who is cited regularly in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. She and her team were a little stunned, though, by the volume of often-heated reactions on social media. 鈥淭he goal of the brief wasn鈥檛 to create controversy, or to get Congress to take immediate action,鈥� says Munnell, who is the Peter F. Drucker Chair of Management Sciences. 鈥淲e wanted to start a dialogue.鈥�
Some critics argued that employers would have less interest in offering the plans if their workers were to lose the tax benefit. On this point, critics might have missed the fine print: The proposal also calls for a federal mandate that all employers must either provide a plan of their own or contribute to a national fund for that purpose. With or without this particular plan to fix Social Security鈥檚 shortfall, Munnell鈥檚 end goal is clear: 鈥淚 want people to be able to live in dignity after they鈥檝e spent their entire lives working.鈥�
