Description: This column highlights the hobbies, pastimes and personal interests of SOA members.

Description: Presented at Living to 100 Symposium, January 2011. The U.S. retirement system has many defects that affect individuals’ ability to survive living to 100. This paper explores some of the problems that individuals face and recommends changes that could make the U.S. system work better.

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 suggests a number of legislative changes, educational efforts, and changes in annuity products and asset allocation software that could assist workers and retirees to better prepare for and respond to declining mortality rates and future increases in income needs. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: This paper suggests a possible framework for the mandatory annuitization of U.S. retirement savings, considers the experience of other countries and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory annuitization.

Description: The author proposes an annuity clearinghouse to encourage employers to offer annuity accumulation products in their defined contribution plans. This addresses the lack of portability that is associated with, and discourages the use of, defined contribution plans.

Description: This presentation from Session 141 of the SOA 2004 Annual Meeting and Exhibit discusses the longevity and investment risks facing participants after retirement and examines the relative merits of annuitizing retirement assets. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 30, No. 3.

Description: This paper talks about shifting from defined benefit to defined contribution plans and the risk involved.

Description: The abstract for the paper New Retirement Plan Designs for the 21st Century.

Description: This paper examines the current presence of more females in the work force, and the Social Security/retirement issues that are raised by this trend. From Retirement Implications of Demographic and Family Change Symposium Monograph, M-RS02-2.