Social Security Reform
Individual Accounts: Lessons from Sweden
Research Report
John Turner, AARP Public Policy Institute
May 2003
Sweden has instituted a system of funded mandatory individual accounts that are similar in some respects to those that might be adopted in the United States as part of Social Security reform. The Swedish system incorporates lessons learned from the experiences of Chile and other countries, particularly regarding ways to reduce the administrative costs of an individual accounts system, and there may be lessons for Americans to learn from Sweden's experience.
In this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Brief, John Turner outlines what the Swedish experience with individual accounts may suggest were such a policy to be implemented in the United States. He shows how an individual account system could be put into place if one were adopted, and how such a system might work, including decisions concerning design, and problems that might be encountered. (13 pages)
Pub ID: IB60