Eugene Steuerle – Retirement Income Journal

Regulation, Kavanaugh, Trump & the Indexing of Capital Gains

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Sep 27, 2018

'Presidents and political parties favor regulation mainly when it when it advances their own agenda, regardless of the number of pages it adds to the Federal Register,' writes our...

Published September 27, 2018

New tax law reveals imbalance in homeownership benefits

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, May 17, 2018

'The TCJA has left the nation with an upside-down tax incentive for homeownership that applies to only about one-tenth of all households—nearly all of them with high incomes,' writes our guest columnist.

Published May 17, 2018

Donald Trump’s $15,000-a-year Social Security Bonus

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Apr 12, 2018

Where to begin reforming Social Security? Our guest columnist would start by eliminating the late-life fatherhood benefit that favors the president and others.

Published April 12, 2018

Two ‘Santas’ Can Be Worse Than One

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Feb 15, 2018

In 1976, Jude Wanniski recommended the 'Two Santas' strategy, whereby Republicans would be as generous with tax cuts as Democrats were with spending. The Trump tax cut is only...

Published February 15, 2018

That Confusing ‘Pass-Through’ Provision

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Jan 11, 2018

Because Congress insisted on producing the new tax bill in less than two months, JCT, IRS, and Treasury were overwhelmed and did not complete a proper complexity analysis, writes...

Published January 11, 2018

A Debt Straitjacket? Or a Misdiagnosed Disease?

By Eugene Steuerle Wed, Nov 22, 2017

With public and private debt so high across the developed world, International Economy magazine asked a group of economists, including this RIJ guest columnist: “Has the world been fitted...

Published November 23, 2017

Lessons from Tax Reform School

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Nov 9, 2017

Our guest columnist, a veteran of the 1986 federal tax overhaul, reveals the kind of chain reaction that can occur when you change the tax code.

Published November 9, 2017

Trump’s Tax Reform Dilemma

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, May 11, 2017

Tax reform will require more than the mere elimination of waste, fraud and abuse in government, warns our guest columnist, a former Treasury official. Popular subsidies, like the tax...

Published May 11, 2017

The Fight over Symbols Prevents Real Reform

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Apr 27, 2017

With health, immigration, trade, and tax policy, the need for real improvements takes a backseat to counterproductive fights over political symbolism, writes our guest columnist, an economist and former...

Published April 27, 2017

Six Bipartisan Opportunities for the President-Elect

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Dec 1, 2016

'Never before have so many promises been made for the future, both for unsustainable rates of spending growth and lower taxes,' writes our guest columnist, a former deputy assistant...

Published December 1, 2016

Trump, Buffett, and how the wealthy are taxed

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Oct 20, 2016

'At the end of the day, tweaks to the individual income tax system, including higher tax rates, are unlikely to increase dramatically the taxes paid by the very wealthy,'...

Published October 21, 2016

Student Debt Weighs on All of Us

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Oct 6, 2016

'If this debt policy additionally discourages risk taking and marriage after education, then all this debt may even reduce investment over time in education, businesses, and homes combined,' writes...

Published October 6, 2016

The ‘Save Our Social Security Act of 2016’: A Major Step Toward Reform

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Jul 28, 2016

These changes in the proposed bi-partisan proposal would bring the Social Security system close to long-term solvency, writes this Urban Institute economist and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the...

Published July 28, 2016

Social Security Spousal Benefits Still Unfair

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, Nov 5, 2015

The recent closure of the "file and suspend" loophole as a Social Security claiming strategy doesn't make spousal and survivor benefits under the program any less unfair, writes this...

Published November 5, 2015

Tax Corporations Less, and Capital Gains More?

By Eugene Steuerle Fri, Feb 13, 2015

Effective tax reform will undoubtedly require some difficult compromises. In this opinion piece, retirement expert Gene Steuerle of the Urban Institute describes a potential trade-off that is bound to...

Published February 13, 2015

Solvency Isn’t Social Security’s Only Problem

By Eugene Steuerle Thu, May 30, 2013

We need to reform the program’s benefit structure, now misaligned with its original anti-poverty goals, as much as we need to reform its financing structure, writes the Urban Institute...

Published May 30, 2013

Don’t Subsidize ‘Middle-Age Retirement’

By Eugene Steuerle Wed, Mar 16, 2011

The author argues that his fellow liberals shouldn’t oppose an increase in the minimum age for claiming Social Security.

Published March 16, 2011

How Social Security Can Make Up for Lost Pensions

By Eugene Steuerle Wed, Jul 14, 2010

Under my plan, the SSA would tell people their benefit at a specific retirement age (either an earliest age or a "normal" age). Then it would show a simple...

Published July 15, 2010

Articles by Author: Eugene Steuerle