Groups: Budgeters Too Tough On Savings Incentives

Pension experts say federal budget analysts are using forecasting techniques that make some pension savings proposals look more expensive than they really are.

Federal budget “scorekeeping” rules overstate the cost of the proposals, by failing to reflect the likelihood that taxpayers eventually will pay taxes on much of the income they defer, according to Judy Xanthopoulos and Mary Schmitt, who prepared a paper on the topic for a coalition led by the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, Arlington, Va.