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This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper examines the utilization of tax incentives for retirement saving, focusing on 1997. The paper breaks down rates of participation in and contributions to retirement savings plans by age, income, and marital status/earner role and discusses the patterns that emerge and their implications for public policy. The paper was prepared at the request of the Senate Finance Committee to analyze the various incentives in the tax code that encourage people to save for retirement. A companion publication, CBO's Online Guide to Tax Incentives for Retirement Saving, describes those tax code features in detail along with the requirements that federal law imposes on pensions and other forms of savings.

Paul Burnham of CBO's Tax Analysis Division (TAD) wrote the paper under the direction of Roberton Williams and G. Thomas Woodward. The report's quantitative analysis built on programs written by David Weiner and John Sabelhaus. Within CBO, Robert Dennis, Douglas Hamilton, Arlene Holen, Deborah Lucas, and John Sturrock provided useful comments. In addition, John Gist and John Taylor of AARP and Richard Ippolito of the George Mason University School of Law reviewed early drafts of the paper and offered valuable criticism and suggestions.

Leah Mazade edited the manuscript, and Christine Bogusz proofread it. Denise Williams prepared early drafts of the text, tables, and figures, and Kathryn Winstead prepared the report for publication. Lenny Skutnik produced the printed copies, and Annette Kalicki prepared the electronic versions for CBO's Web site.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Director
August 2003