Gary Koenig, MA

Areas of Expertise

Social Security, retirement savings, older American's economic well-being, and tax and budget policy

Profile

Gary Koenig leads a team of economists, attorneys, and policy experts who work on economic and consumer security issues at AARP’s Public Policy Institute (PPI). The group analyzes and develops policies related to the financial security of the population ages 50- plus. Gary and his team are particularly concerned with policies that address the challenges people face as they age, including the adequacy of Social Security benefits and retirement savings, older workforce issues, and consumer financial protections.

Gary has been working on issues related to retirement security for over 20 years. He began working at PPI in September 2008 as a senior strategic advisor. In that capacity, Gary served as PPI’s expert on policy reform for Social Security and retirement savings. While at PPI, he has written several papers about Social Security reform, tax policies for retirement savings, and the economic well-being of older Americans.

Before joining AARP, Gary was an economist for the Joint Committee on Taxation in the US Congress, where he specialized in employer-provided pensions and retirement plans. While at the Joint Committee, he coauthored the first paper that evaluated the retirement Saver’s Credit and contributed to numerous reports related to tax reform and retirement savings. Gary is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and serves as a board member for the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

In His Words

“Whether we call it a crisis or not, here’s the situation: unless households take steps to shore up their retirement security, and policy makers make it easier for people to take these steps, too many people will have to cut back significantly in retirement.” (G. Koenig, “Retirement Crisis,” Thinking Policy [AARP blog], May 23, 2013,)

Selected Publications

• Koenig, G., Fichtner J., and Gale, W., "Supplemental Transition Accounts for Retirement: A Proposal to Increase Retirement Income Security and Reform Social Security," (Washington, DC, AARP, January 2018)
• Koenig, G., "You Just Need a Little Nudge," (AARP Bulletin Vol. 58. No. 4, May 2017)
• Koenig, G., Trawinski, L., and Rix, S., "The Long Road Back: Struggling to Find Work after Unemployment," (Washington, DC, AARP Public Policy Institute, March 2015).
• Koenig, G., “Social Security’s Impact on the National Economy,” (Washington, DC, AARP Public Policy Institute, September 2013).
• Koenig, G., “The Elusive Middle in America — What Has Happened to Middle-Class Income?” (Washington, DC, AARP Public Policy Institute, January 2013).
• Koenig, G., Harris, B., Fischer, I., and Johnson, R., “The Case for the Automatic IRA,” (Washington, DC, AARP Public Policy Institute, March 2012).
• Koenig, G. and Waid, M., “Proposed Changes to Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Adjustment,” (Washington, DC, AARP Public Policy Institute, October 2012).

See all blog posts by Gary Koenig

Contact

GKoenig@aarp.org

202-434-3910

Follow

@gary_koenig