- Overview
This Call for Papers is being issued as part of the Society of Actuaries Pension Section Council's Retirement 20/20 project. It stems from discussions at the 2006 Retirement 20/20 conference where signals were discussed as a potentially important mechanism to change future retirement behavior. In further discussions at the 2007 conference, it was unclear whether new signals to impact behavior should be developed or existing signals should be adjusted. Potential submitters are encouraged to review the report from the 2006 conference, "Building the Foundations for New Retirement Systems," which can be found at Retirement2020.soa.org.
Either inadvertently or intentionally, society, employers and financial markets send strong signals to individuals concerning appropriate retirement actions and behavior. Research has shown, for example, that retirement ages do not increase if the normal retirement age is increased, but will increase if the early retirement age is increased. Examples include:
- Normal retirement ages in employer-sponsored pension plans and government-sponsored social insurance programs (both income and medical coverage);
- Age– or service–related formulae for "earliest unreduced pension"–such as "30 and out" for North American auto workers;
- Subsidized early retirement provisions, particularly the offer of unreduced benefits at an age prior to normal retirement age;
- Early retirement ages under social insurance plans;
- Requirements to retire fully before gaining access to retirement income from a pension plan;
- Temporary early retirement window incentives;
- Access to pension assets via a loan in some jurisdictions;
- Flexibility to choose to receive a lump sum in lieu of lifetime retirement income;
- Media messages depicting healthy and prosperous retirees enjoying leisure time and spending significant sums to pursue their dreams;
- Tax code provisions that encourage specific actions and discourage other actions (such as prohibitions on pension withdrawals before age 59.5 and 70.5 minimum distribution rules in the U.S., and the age 71 rule in Canada);
- Age discrimination legislation.
This Call for Papers is focused on developing ideas in the following areas:
- In what ways do currently sent signals inhibit the development of new retirement plan designs, new workforce arrangements and other modifications to our employment and retirement system?
- Are the current signals appropriate? Should some signals be eliminated? If signals aren't appropriate, how do we redesign retirement plans, social insurance and other components of the retirement system to minimize inappropriate signals?
- What happens if we abolish certain signals? Are workers able to navigate retirement without signals?
- Should signals be uniform across society, or is it permissible to send different signals to different classes of workers (e.g., those with jobs with a physical labor component)?
- Is it appropriate for some stakeholders to send signals but not for others? Can society send signals but not employers or vice versa?
- In what ways could stakeholders modify pension policy and program design today to change the signals being sent? What small changes could be implemented today to begin to address the issues, goals and directions framed in the 2006 report mentioned above? What more substantive initiatives might be effective in beginning to change the signals?
- Content
To expand our thinking on this subject, the Society of Actuaries Pension Section Council and its Research Team are issuing this Call for Papers, inviting academic researchers, practitioners, plan sponsors, analysts and other interested parties to further the debate, develop proposals and/or identify solutions related to any aspect of this "changing the signals" question.
The objective is to compile papers that consider a spectrum of perspectives and solutions, although the organizers recognize that any individual paper is likely to focus on a narrower aspect of the larger question.
Papers that present solutions with longer term or innovative approaches, solutions that would entail new initiatives by government or achieving consensus among various key stakeholders are encouraged. Papers that suggest solutions that could easily be implemented in the short term, without legislative changes or significant realignment of societal thinking are also welcome.
Authors may submit either original research or expository papers. The papers have no required minimum or maximum length.
- Procedure for Submission of Abstracts
Please submit an abstract or outline of your proposed paper by January 31, 2008 to:
At a minimum, the abstract submission should include a brief description of the subject of the paper, a list of key items to be covered and a brief biographical paragraph summarizing the author's experience, prior publications and presentations, and contact information.
- Procedure for Reviewing Abstracts
Submitted abstracts will be evaluated by a review group for their potential for presentation at an SOA Pension Section Council–sponsored symposium in the fall of 2008.
Abstract submissions will be accepted, accepted subject to revision or declined. The review group is scheduled to complete its evaluation of the abstracts/outlines in March 2008.
- Submission of Papers
All papers must be based on accepted abstracts and submitted in a complete format no later than May 31, 2008.
The procedure for submission of papers includes the following specific guidelines:
- Submissions that have a copyright must be accompanied by written permission to reprint.
- Submissions should be made electronically to Jeanne Nallon.
- Publication and Presentation
The review group, after receiving all submissions, will determine if a symposium for presenting the papers is appropriate. Should this occur:
- It is anticipated that travel and lodging expenses for authors selected to present at the symposium will be reimbursed, up to certain limits.
- A final determination as to the number of papers invited to present will be made after all abstracts have been submitted and reviewed.
It is anticipated that all accepted papers will be published. The papers will appear in an on–line monograph and, where appropriate, in Society of Actuaries publications such as The Pension Forum. Upon author request, accepted papers may also be submitted to the North American Actuarial Journal for publication consideration. Authors can submit their papers to other publications provided that the Society of Actuaries can maintain the right to publish the papers.
The Society of Actuaries reserves the right to publish all papers and to copyright all published papers without a previous copyright. In addition, excerpts or synopses of the papers may be published for promotional purposes.
The Society of Actuaries reserves the right to reject or not publish any papers not meeting the criteria and standards set by the review group.
- Questions
Please direct questions regarding this CFP to:
- Steven Siegel, SOA Research Actuary
- ph: 847.706.3578
- f: 847.273.8578
- e–mail: ssiegel@soa.org