Upcoming Event, Sept 7: Financial Security Research Symposium

The US Treasury and the Michigan Retirement Research Center will host a conference on September 7 focusing on retirement income security. You can find more details and registration information here.

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This event is being co-hosted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Social Security Administration and is being coordinated by the Michigan Retirement Research Center (MRRC).

Four panels of academic, institutional, and government experts will address issues surrounding financial preparedness and retirement security.   The meeting will highlight existing research that addresses key elements of building financial security in later life:  Social Security benefits, workplace savings, other savings and assets, and longer careers.  The meeting will also identify areas where there are gaps in research and understanding, and the policy implications of existing and missing research.  William Spriggs, Chief Economist AFL-CIO and Professor, Howard University, will present a keynote address.

Working Draft Agenda

Assessing Financial Preparedness and Retirement Security

• Leandro Carvalho, Economist, Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the University of Southern California
• Susann Rohwedder, Associate Director, RAND Center for the Study of Aging, Senior Economist, RAND, Faculty Member, Pardee RAND Graduate School
• Olivia S. Mitchell, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor; Professor of Insurance and Risk Management and Business and Public Policy,   Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
• Susan Houseman, Senior Economist, W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
• Moderator:  Karen Dynan, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist, US Department of the Treasury

Understanding Social Security

• Arie Kapteyn,  Research Professor, Economics; Director, Center for Economics and Social Research at the University of Southern California
• Kathleen McGarry, Chair, Department of Economics University of California, Los Angeles
• Barbara Smith, Social Security Administration and  Kenneth Couch, Department of Economics, University of Connecticut
• Lila Rabinovich, Director, Policy and Development, Center for Economic and Social Research East at the University of Southern California
• Moderator: TBN

Other Sources of Financial Security

• Stephanie Moulton, Associate Professor, John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University
• Jack VanDerhei, Research Director,  Employee Benefit Research Institute
• William G. Gale, Senior Fellow - Economic Studies, Director - Retirement Security Project, Brookings Institution
• John Laitner, Director, University of Michigan Retirement Research Center
• Moderator:  J. Mark Iwry, Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary
  for Retirement and Health Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Future Directions for Research

• Barry Bosworth, Senior Fellow - Economic Studies,  Brookings Institution
• Gail Hillebrand, Associate Director for Consumer Education and Engagement,  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Rochelle W. Martinez, Statistician, Statistical and Science Policy Branch, Office of Management and Budget
• William J. Congdon, Social and Behavioral Sciences Team Fellow, General Services Administration
• Moderator: John Phillips, Associate Commissioner Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, Social Security Administration