Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1987

Abstract

This Article concentrates on equitable and distributional aspects of the retirement security problem, although the unified view taken here seems essential to an adequate assessment of the fairness or efficacy either of the three components taken together or of any one of the three. Moreover, because tax legislation serves as the dominant public mechanism for implementing national retirement policy, whether through funding Social Security via the payroll tax or providing tax incentives for both private pensions and individual savings, a unified view of retirement security policy highlights interrelationships, confluences, and potential conflicts between retirement security and tax policy concerns.

This Article examines these interrelationships and advances a variety of policy recommendations. Part I lays the groundwork for a national retirement security policy by describing the goals of such a program and, in particular, the critical role of federal tax policy in implementing our retirement security program. Parts II through IV then provide, respectively, analyses of the payroll tax, employer-provided pensions, and individual savings for retirement, discussing each in relation to a unified national retirement security policy. The Article concludes by suggesting possible directions for a more fair retirement program.

Disciplines

Law | Social Welfare Law | Tax Law

Comments

Copyright © 1987 Penn Law: Legal Scholarship Repository.

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