Retirement in the United States: Social Security or Private Investment
No Thumbnail Available
Issue Date
2014-04-26
Authors
Wheeler, Alexis
Mitchell, Jessica L.
Publisher
Keywords
Abstract
This presentation explores retirement options beyond Social Security within the United States. Social Security is a public retirement system that has benefits for recipients, such as convenience and a steady monthly income. However, this program has systemic shortcomings, including high costs and lack of future stability. This presentation explores another retirement option, private investment. By investing their retirement savings outside of Social Security, they would gain more control over how their money is utilized and have the opportunity to earn higher returns. Such private retirement investment has some disadvantages, including workers' lack of financial planning experience, which can adversely affect their retirement portfolio performance. This presentation is based on interviews with current retirees as well as reviews of government websites and scholarly journals and evaluates whether Social Security or private planning is the best option for retirement in the United States.