Another possibility is to allow companies to convert traditional defined-benefit pensions, which encourage retirement as early as age 55, to cash-balance plans, which have no built-in incentives to retire. Perhaps the most controversial idea is to break the typical link between pay and seniority. As more people work into their late 60s and 70s, pay should be adjusted to match how much people work and what they accomplish on the job.

Basing pay on performance is a controversial idea because what the criterions of performance for most hi-level professional jobs that older workers are performing are ambiguous at best. How does one determine success at a professional job? Unlike a manual job, where productivity can be measured in, for example, widgets per hour, professional job performance involve intangible factors such as interpersonal relations and communication skills. In many cases, performance may be defined solely in terms of what your boss...
[ View Full Essay]