Tag Archives: Alicia Munnell

Now they’re talking about axing 401(K) benefits

Alicia-Munnell

Important Takeaways:

  • Economists from the left and right call for 401(K) tax benefits to be AXED to help fund Social Security benefits
  • Tax benefits on 401(K)s should be axed in favor of higher Social Security payments, says a report co-written by a former aide to President Clinton.
  • Alicia Munnell, who served as an assistant Treasury secretary from 1993 to 1995, claims retirement pots with tax breaks disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
  • She made the claim in the report co-authored by right-leaning economist Andrew Biggs – where they say such benefits have done little to incentivize workers to save more anyway.
  • Cutting the perks on 401(K)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) could save the Government almost $200 billion, they argue – and that windfall would be better used plugging shortfalls in Social Security payments.
  • The paper – ‘The case for using subsidies for retirement plans to fix social security’ – has attracted a widespread backlash with one retirement expert labelling it a ‘preposterous idea’ since being published last month.
  • One user wrote: ‘If you take away the tax benefit, who the hell is going to save to a 401(K) anymore? This would get people to save less and rely on the government more.’

Read the original article by clicking here.