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: 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 offers ideas on new retirement plan designs that share investment risk or longevity risk, or both, between employers and employees.

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: This paper talks about the risks of defined benefit and defined contribution plans.

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.

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: List of symposium/monograph contributors.

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