Description: This study examines reductions in retirement benefits from the decline in defined benefit plans and increases in defined contribution plans during the past 20 years and what effect this has on workforce management. In particular how this change is affecting older workers’ decisions to retire and what effect this could have on companies. An underlying assumption implicit in evaluating the benefit of retirement of older workers is that productivity declines in old age while pay does not, leading to a pay productivity gap that could have an adverse effect on the employer from delayed retirement. The validity of this assumption was also examined.

Description: The Society of Actuaries provides a snapshot of the findings from the SOA and Stanford research report, “The Next Evolution in Defined Contribution Retirement.” The fact sheet provides employers and plan sponsors with tips on how to build and offer retirement income generators.

Description: The project goals are: • Illustrate an analytical framework using stochastic forecasts and efficient frontiers for hypothetical retirees, for determining retirement income generators (RIGs) that could be offered in a DC retirement plan. • Determine the RIGS or combination of RIGs that could be considered optimal according to specified criteria. • Encourage plan participants, plan sponsors, and advisors to adopt a portfolio approach to developing retirement income strategies.

Description: This project has four phases. Phase 1 develops the framework for using a portfolio approach to developing retirement income strategies, and establishes a baseline for comparing to future phases. Phases 2, 3 and 4 analyze more complex retirement income solutions than Phase 1, to determine if the additional complexity improves projected outcomes and can be justified by the potential to deliver more favorable results. Interim reports have been prepared for each phase and can be found on the SCL and SOA websites. This report integrates the findings and conclusions from the Interim Reports, to help plan sponsors and their advisors consider the various goals, RIGs, and retirement income solutions that were analyzed in all four phases. This report references the analyses from the interim reports, but does not replicate all of these analyses. The Interim Reports provide many more details on our analyses for all four phases and should be used in conjunction with this report.

Description: The project goals are: • Illustrate an analytical framework using stochastic forecasts and efficient frontiers for hypothetical retirees, for determining retirement income generators (RIGs) that could be offered in a DC retirement plan. • Determine the RIGS or combination of RIGs that could be considered optimal according to specified criteria. • Encourage plan participants, plan sponsors, and advisors to adopt a portfolio approach to developing retirement income strategies.

Description: This paper discusses some key challenges of embedding guarantees in DC plans, including setting an appropriate guarantee level, designing effective cost funding and risk management strategies, and fair treatment of plan participants with different investment strategies.

Description: This paper is intended to help plan sponsor fiduciaries understand existing options and carry out their due diligence when studying retirement income solutions for DC retirement plans. It educates human resources and financial professionals at plan sponsors about the potential issues, solutions, and processes involved with implementing, administering, and communicating a retirement income program for their plan participants.

Description: The project goals are: • Illustrate an analytical framework using stochastic forecasts and efficient frontiers for hypothetical retirees, for determining retirement income generators (RIGs) that could be offered in a DC retirement plan. • Determine the RIGS or combination of RIGs that could be considered optimal according to specified criteria. • Encourage plan participants, plan sponsors, and advisors to adopt a portfolio approach to developing retirement income strategies.

Description: The project goals are: • Illustrate an analytical framework using stochastic forecasts and efficient frontiers for hypothetical retirees, for determining retirement income generators (RIGs) that could be offered in a DC retirement plan. • Determine the RIGS or combination of RIGs that could be considered optimal according to specified criteria. • Encourage plan participants, plan sponsors, and advisors to adopt a portfolio approach to developing retirement income strategies.

Description: This study is designed to analyze new planning approaches and strategies that combine SPIAs with other techniques to create retirement income synergies. Using historical scenarios, it evaluates how different retirement income strategies hypothetically would have met four separate client goals: sustainable income, liquidity, accessibility and legacy. This report summarizes study findings and includes “planning points” to help readers interpret the study data.