The way it works now, as long as a marriage has lasted at least 10 years, a married or divorced person can draw on his or her own benefits or the spouse's benefits, whichever is higher.  The recommendation is to cap the spousal benefit at a level "equal to the spousal benefit received by someone married to a worker in the 75th percentile of the earnings distribution." In 2022, the new maximum would be $843 a month. Under current rules, the maximum monthly benefit in 2016 is $2,639, and the maximum spousal benefit based on that is $1,320, according to the Social Security press office.

Cap total assets in tax-advantaged savings accounts
The Romney Plan, if you will. Few people are lucky (or churlish) enough to be able to complain about the report's recommendation to limit aggregated assets in tax-advantaged accounts to $10 million. Right now, there's no limit—hence, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney's famous IRA, which he reported in the 2012 election cycle as holding assets between $20 million and $102 million. The Government Accountability Office "estimates that 314 taxpayers have more than $25 million in IRAs, 791 have between $10 million and $25 million in IRAs, and 7,952 have between $5 million and $10 million in IRAs," according to the report. That might result from investing IRA assets in shares of an early-stage startup before it goes public, the report notes. If the company does go public and an investor reaps large returns, using a Roth IRA "would result in a very large tax savings, disproportionately favoring wealthier individuals who may use their accounts as a tax shelter, rather than to fund consumption needs in retirement," the authors say.

Close the ‘stretch’ IRA estate-planning loophole
Non-spousal beneficiaries such as children and grandchildren are able to keep money they inherited in IRAs and defined-contribution plans in tax-advantaged accounts for decades, the report notes. It recommends that those assets be distributed over no more than five years.

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