Bill Shipman

Social Security is in trouble. But, it can be fixed, and officials in the U.S. government (and governments around the globe) are making changes designed to reform retirement finance as we know it today. Bill Shipman knows Social Security and retirement finance reform. He has been instrumental in assisting Congress with the drafting of H.R. 4851, Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act. Bill is an expert who has studied, written and lectured extensively about these issues. He has counseled government officials and dignitaries in six continents on these issues. He can help your audience understand the impact this issue will have on their lives, companies, industry and future.

Thirteen years ago Bill Shipman invited 25 people to Boston to discuss an issue most participants had rarely considered, Social Security. The participants were responsible for the retirement plans of the largest corporations and state pension funds in America. The four-hour session was led by the Commissioner of Social Security who served under Presidents Reagan and Bush (41).

The next year, 1994, the Commissioner asked Shipman to testify to Congress and offer his views on Social Security. In October Shipman testified that the Social Security system, however compassionate in intent, was fundamentally flawed in design and financially unsustainable. He suggested that the country consider reforming the system from a tax-based to a market-based structure wherein individuals save and invest for their retirement needs.

Shipman’s comments were observed by the Cato Institute, one of Washington’s prominent think tanks. The following year Cato requested that he write a paper to be published by Cato and asked him to be the co-chairman of Cato’s Project on Social Security Choice.

In 1996 Shipman co-authored Promises to Keep: Saving Social Security’s Dream which was modeled after his 1994 testimony. The importance of “Promises” is that it was written by two people from the financial services industry, the industry that would play a pivotal role in Social Security’s fundamental reform.

Within a couple of years there was another meeting, much smaller, just a handful people. They discussed reforming Social Security along the lines of a defined contribution plan with personal property rights. This was an important gathering because one of the participants moved on and became the President of the United States.

When then Governor Bush campaigned for the presidency he promoted Social Security reform. This was unusual. Most politicians avoided the subject for the political risks were considered too high. Bush saw it differently. He promised that if elected, he would appoint a commission to provide answers for reform, and he did.