The predictable surprise: the unraveling of the U.S. Retirement System

Part I. Foundations and fault lines. Retirement USA ; Early motivations behind the pension movement

Part II. Social security : the dream and reality. Development and passage of the Social Security Act ; Early concerns prove nagging and persistent ; Moving to pay-as-you-go financing ; A deal too good to last ; Operations under pay-as-you-go financing ; Crisis and reactions : conflict, consensus and surprise ; Sorting out the trust fund semantics and realities ; Policy stalemate at the demographic divide ; Understanding Social Security in modern times

Part III. Employer-based pension provision. Employer pensions taking root ; Growing pains for private retirement plans ; ERISA : the transition to a new regulatory regime ; The 1980s, a decade of regulatory schizophrenia ; Good intentions gone awry ; Some good news... or not ; The unfolding of a predictable defined benefit surprise ; And then, a predictable defined contribution surprise ; Public pensions : the good, the bad and the ugly

Part IV: Delivering benefits and providing retirement security. Retirement income security and workers' residuals ; End game : a gold watch, pat on the back and more ; We've killed the goose, Let's gild the eggs ; Tax benefits and benefit taxes ; Retiree health benefits : misfortune or malpractice

Part V. Truth and consequences. The fellow behind the tree ; Securing the Social Security foundation ; Securing tax-favored benefits and living standards ; Remembering the future

Glossary.