Alicia Munnell, Founder of a Retirement Research Hub, Is Retiring

If there’s anyone ready for retirement, it’s Alicia Munnell.She founded and has been running the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College since 1998, making it one of the leading nonpartisan think tanks examining how American workers can thrive after they leave their jobs.“I’m very proud of this center,” Ms.

Munnell said.“We have great people and really good academics who really care.”She served on former President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and was assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy in his administration.

Previously, she spent 20 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where she rose to become senior vice president and director of research.Ms.Munnell, 82, is retiring at the end of December, when Andrew Eschtruth, the center’s deputy director, will take over.

Before she departs, she talked about her career and the projected shortfall that would leave Social Security, the cornerstone of the American retirement system, unable to pay full scheduled benefits after 2033.These are edited excerpts from the conversation.People suggest fixing the shortfall in funding for Social Security benefits by getting rid of the wage cap — the cap limits the amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (in 2025 the limit will be $176,100).

You’ve written that wouldn’t be enough.Why?I worry that young people think Social Security won’t be there for them, and nothing could be further from the truth.

We have a system where the costs are higher than the revenues, and if nothing is done, benefits would have to be cut by 21 percent.But the good side of that is that almost enough money is coming in to pay 80 percent of the benefits.

This whole argument is whether we keep the benefits at 100 percent and raise more revenues, or should we cut benefits.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If...