April 15, 2005
A policy seminar on Friday, April 15, 2005
Many individual account proposals-including President Bush’s-that shift Social Security taxes to the accounts include some type of benefit reduction in exchange for the accounts. These benefit reductions, called offsets, raise many questions. What are offsets and how are they likely to work? How would offsets affect spouse and survivors’ benefits? How would offsets be calculated? What is the effect of individual account offsets on retirees’ benefits, the Social Security trust funds, and on the budget?
Primer on Offsets
Joni Lavery, National Academy of Social Insurance
How to Make Offsets Work
David John, The Heritage Foundation
Unanswered Questions About Offsets and Family Benefits
Joan Entmacher, The National Women’s Law Center
The Budget, Trust Funds, and Offsets
Paul Cullinan, Congressional Budget Office
Moderator: Bob Rosenblatt, former Los Angeles Times reporter and Senior Fellow, National Academy of Social Insurance