The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook"…

The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook"…

The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to address today's claimants and focus on the here-and-now at the expense of long-term concerns and more dispersed constituencies. In the private sector, rules and regulations seek to tame corner-cutting and short-sighted behavior. In the public sector, the primary safeguard is the…

In the late 1990s, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation made grants to study people's attitudes toward retirement and to determine what factors influenced their decisions to retire. Although faculty were not talking to college administrators or human-resources departments about health care, the researchers found to their surprise that when they…

The General Accounting Office studied employer-sponsored retirement savings plans provided for under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Nearly 5,000 employers were surveyed in 1987 to determine (1) the incidence of 401(k) plans and their relationship to other types of retirement plans; (2) the variation in plan provisions and experiences…

Examined extent and patterns of financial planning among a range of professionals. Found that respondents (N=457) placed their primary emphasis on pensions (including Social Security) and continued work-related income, although four types of pre-retirement financial planning were identified. The most consistent predictor of the extent of planning…

The authors estimate a retirement equation with multiple outcome categories to show, first, that self-reported partial retirement is relatively common among White males aged 58 to 69. Second, results from retirement equations specified with dichotomous dependent variables are shown to be sensitive to whether the partially retired are categorized…

In this paper the authors examine how the structures of earnings, Social Security, and pension benefits affect retirement behavior. They use an intertemporal model of labor supply, paying special attention to the institutional features of private pensions and Social Security benefits. (Author/SSH)

This study explores the impact of retirement on the health of Canadians. Findings indicate there are differences between mortality patterns of the retirees and the Canadian population; distinct mortality patterns also emerge for male and female retirees. (Author/CT)

Social assistance mechanisms are driving the early retirement trend in Europe. Traditional life stages are disappearing, being replaced by new flexibility in managing the life course. The social security system needs to be reconsidered. (SK)

Discusses proposed Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) accounting standards requiring school districts to report liability associated with other post-employment benefits (OPEBs), such as health care, to future retirees and well as the status of efforts to fund those benefits. (PKP)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' first survey of benefits available to state and local government employees reveals that public pension plans tend to provide more liberal benefits but are more likely to require employee contributions than are their private sector counterparts. (Author)

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), the largest pension system in the country, has lost its tax exemption, a change that has both created problems and opened doors to new ventures. TIAA-CREF is now seeking opportunities to manage state tuition-savings plans, and has also established six…

In recent years, legislative changes, new types of retirement plans, and increases in life expectancy have led to differences in retirement ages. More older adults continue to work. The traditional model of social security, savings, and employer retirement benefits is changing. (Contains 31 notes and references.) (SK)

This paper examines the pattern of incentives for work versus retirement in five state teacher pension systems. We do this by examining the annual accrual of pension wealth from an additional year of work over a teacher's career. Accrual of wealth is highly nonlinear and heavily loaded at arbitrary years that would normally be considered…