Description: Elderly women living alone experience some of the highest poverty rates in the United States. One reason for their financial frailty is that they face more longevity risk than men. Existing financial products that can mitigate this risk are not attractive to many people. Can alternative vehicles for pooling longevity risk be developed outside the insurance market that would appeal to these individuals? This paper suggests some risk-pooling approaches and compares their effectiveness and viability.

Description: This paper describes an actuarial model that was developed to answer the question of whether employees are projected to get their money's worth out of participating in the Society Security system, determined by comparing the expected present value of benefits to projected value of taxes. This question is discussed with reference to 1. a single worker, 2. a married worker with a non working spouse and 3. a two-wage-earner family.

Description: This paper presents a summary of the legislative history of the several 1961 amendments, with emphasis on those affecting OASDI and the provisions of the health benefits proposal - particularly as to its financing. Discussions of this paper are included.

Description: This section features various book reviews: 'How to Cope with the Developing Financial Crisis' by Bladen, 'Policymaking for Social Security' by Derthick, '1979 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASDI Trust Funds' by US Congress, 'Integration of Plans with Social Security and Funding' by Grubbs, 'Pension and Profit Sharing Plans - a Basic Guide' by Mamorsky, 'Joint Trust Pension Plans' by McGinn, 'Financing the Civil Service Retirement Systems...' by McGill, 'Pension Task Force Report on Public Employee Retirement Systems' by Committee on Education and Labor. Brief descriptions of additional readings are also included.

Description: This paper focuses on the situation of women at high ages and the implications of longer life for women. This paper draws on and brings together work done by the Society of Actuaries in connection with the 2005 post-retirement risk survey, work from Social Security administration studies, U.S. government census data, WISER, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and papers funded by the Social Security research center.

Description: This paper presents the results of an investigation of the remarriage experience of a sizable group of Canadian widows. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1960, Vol. 12, No. 34.

Description: This paper charts the economic status of women moving from marriage to widowhood, and examines the changes in income and income sources that actually occur as women are widowed. The paper focuses, in particular, in the actual and potential role of pensions in preserving the economic status of widow. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: Member benefit newsletter for the Social Insurance and Public Finance Section of the SOA.

Description: This paper examines how income sources change when married women in Britain, the U.S., and Germany are widowed, and it draws inferences about the income consequences of specific retirement and survivorship provisions. .

Description: This panel discussion, which occurred at the May 1982 Society of Actuaries meeting in Colorado Springs, covered U.S. Social Security issues. Topics included: 1. Financial status of the Social Security program. 2. Changes recently adopted and proposed. 3. Impact of these changes on the private pension system 4. Role of the actuarial profession regarding the Social Security program. The following papers were referenced in this discussion: OASDI Earnings Test, by Warren R. Luckner Measures of Actuarial Status for Social Security: Retrospect and Prospect, by Dwight K. Bartlett III