Individual accounts and social security reform -- Introduction to individual accounts -- Individual accounts in social security reform : the debate -- Agency risk and the management of individual account investments by corporations and mutual funds -- Individual management risk -- Labor market issues -- Benefits and taxes -- Summary and conclusions -- Appendix A : Dealing with financial market risks : guarantees in individual accounts -- Appendix B : Labor market distortions due to contribution evasion and avoidance.

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Annotation Individual accounts can be categorized with respect to the incentive for their provision or with respect to their relationship to social security pensions. Combining these two approaches, social security reform using individual accounts can occur five different ways: (1) voluntary carve-outs that partially replace social security, (2) voluntary carve-outs that fully replace social security, (3) mandatory add-ons to social security through legal requirements, (4) mandatory carve-outs that partially replace social security, (5) mandatory carve-outs that fully replace social security. Of these approaches, this book, in the context of possible U.S. reforms, focuses on three: voluntary carve-outs that partially replace social security, mandatory add-ons, and mandatory carve-outs that partially replace social security. One of the themes of the book is that the effects of individual accounts depend on which type of accounts are being considered. It is important to distinguish between add-ons and carve-outs. Another dimension of the structure of individual accounts is their financial management. For either add-on or carve-out accounts, individual accounts can be managed at least three ways: the Chilean model, the Australian model, and the Swedish model. This book focuses on the Chilean and Swedish models of financial management as being the approaches most relevant for the United States to consider.

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