On November 10, 2010, Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security (Aspen IFS) and Board Chair of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), moderated the “Strengthening Social Security for the Long Run: Insights from 1983” panel in the Rayburn House Office Building. Organized by the National Academy of Social Insurance, the event featured panelists Janice Gregory, NASI President; Virginia Reno, NASI Vice President for Income Security; and Wendell Primus, Policy Advisor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Sep 23 2010
By colby.farber
On September 23, 2010, Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security (Aspen IFS), participated in the “Make it Happen: Asset Building for All Strategy Session” at CFED’s 2010 Asset Learning Conference. The conference, entitled “The Assets Movement at Its Moment: Creating the Save & Invest Economy” brought together over 1,000 organizers, policymakers, academics, business leaders, and innovators from all over the world. Over the course of five plenary sessions, 60 concurrent sessions, and multiple keynote addresses, participants discussed visions, strategies, and experiences in assets practice, policy, and research.
Sep 23 2010
On September 23, 2010, the Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security (Aspen IFS) hosted a Congressional briefing, “Tapping Tax Time,” in the Capitol Visitors Center. Moderated by Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of Aspen IFS, the event featured participants Michael Barr, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Treasury; Mark Iwry, Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Treasury; Peter Tufano, the Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management at Harvard Business School; and Robert Weinberger, Senior Fellow at Aspen IFS.
Sep 21 2010
On Tuesday, September 21, 2010, Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security (Aspen IFS) spoke at the Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Downpayment (SEED) Initiative’s Media and Policy Briefing at the National Press Club. Moderated by Robert Friedman, Board Chair at CFED, the event’s other panelists included Michael Sherraden, Founder and Director of Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for Social Development; Jose Cisneros, Treasurer of the City of San Francisco, California; and Ray Boshara, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation.
Sep 15 2010
By colby.farber
On September 15, 2010, Pamela Perun, Policy Director of the Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security, testified before the Department of Labor and Department of the Treasury on the topic of fiduciary safe harbors for the selection of lifetime income issuers and products.
Aug 09 2010
On Monday, August 9, 2010, Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of Aspen IFS, moderated the “What’s the News in the 2010 Social Security Trustees Report?” panel in the Rayburn House Office Building. Organized by the National Academy of Social Insurance, the event featured panelists Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary of Social Security; Alice Wade, Deputy Chief Actuary of Social Security; and Virginia P. Reno, Vice President for Income Security Policy at the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Both Goss and Wade expounded on findings from the 2010 Social Security Trustees Report, which was released on August 5. Alice Wade explained the long-term actuarial deficit of Social Security decreased as compared to last year’s report. This decline was largely due to the effects of the recently enacted health care legislation – specifically, the taxable income increases expected resulting from the excise tax levied on employer provided health care programs. Wade continued by detailing how the short-term financial and actuarial status of the Social Security trust funds slightly worsened as compared to last year’s projections. This change, Goss explained, was predominantly due to more disabled workers claiming benefits and a slower-than-expected economic recovery.
Jun 24 2010
On June 24, 2010, Pamela Perun, Policy Director of Aspen IFS, participated in the Heritage Foundation’s retirement policy conference “U.S. and the Netherlands: Converging Paths to Retirement Security.” Perun served as a discussant on the panel, ‘Improving Participation and Outcomes Through Incentives and Education,’ which focused on the importance of incentives and education in retirement savings system design.
Jun 22 2010
On June 22, 2010, Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of Aspen IFS, moderated a high-level debate on the future of Social Security at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) day-long forum, “Social Security at 75: The Legacy and Vision.” The debate featured Dean Baker, Co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum.
Jun 16 2010
On June 16, 2010, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, chaired by Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), held a hearing on lifetime income solutions titled, “The Retirement Challenge: Making Savings Last a Lifetime.”
Feb 23 2010
On February 23, 2010, Aspen IFS, in conjunction with the Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a Congressional briefing, “Your Nest Egg on Auto Pilot.” Moderated by Lisa Mensah, Executive Director of Aspen IFS, the event featured several prominent panelists including Mark J. Iwry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy at the U.S. Treasury; Cristina Martin Firvida, Director of Economic Security at AARP; Nancy Register, Associate Director of the Consumer Federation of America; Lewis Mandell, Senior Fellow of Aspen IFS, and John Tippets, CEO of North Island Credit Union and Founding Aspen IFS Advisory Board Member.
