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Aging and Retirement Research Reports

If you’re looking for research projects and reports on retirement and aging, you’ve come to the right place. The SOA offers a variety of research from the Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks.

2025

2024

  • Long-Term Care Population Research Model
    November
    The LTC Population Research Model was developed to examine potential impacts of LTC benefits made available through public finance approaches at the federal level.
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  • RPEC 2024 Mortality Improvement Update 
    October
    This report presents research into recent population mortality experience compiled by the Retirement Plans Experience Committee of the Society of Actuaries Research Institute as it pertains to development of mortality improvement assumptions for measuring obligations of retirement programs in the United States.
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  • Impact of Inflation in Retirement – Survey Findings
  • September
  • The Society of Actuaries Research Institute partnered with Optimity to survey retirees who use the Optimity wellness app on a series of inflation-related questions. In April 2024, twelve questions were posed to app users who self-identified as retired. Optimity app users are everyday consumers and have no specific company or organization affiliation. Responses to the questions were provided by 1,541 US and Canadian users. Of these a random sample of 1,000 respondents was selected to analyze responses. The sample of 1,000 was selected through a randomization algorithm and process. Respondents range in age from 55 to 80.
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  • Impact of AI on Retirement Professionals and Retirees - Essay Collection
  • August
  • The Society of Actuaries Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program Steering Committee issued a call for essays to explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLM) on retirement professionals and retirees. The objective was to gather a variety of perspectives and experiences with AI and LLM in different retirement settings—both now and in the future. It is the goal of this collection to spur thoughts for future research and set the stage for upcoming efforts.
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  • Modeling the Impact of Inflation on Retirement Savings Portfolios
  • June
  • The primary purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, through a basic stochastic projection model, how inflation might impact savings and investing for retirement.
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  • Retirement Wealth by Race and Ethnicity: Differences, Trends and Contributing Factors
    April
    This report includes a thorough review of the literature on the extent of racial disparities in retirement savings and possible causes for and correlates of these disparities.
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  • Actuarial Impact of Mental Health Issues in Retirement - Essay Collection
  • March
  • Explore three essays addressing the actuarial impact of mental health issues in retirement.
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  • Understanding and Managing Post-Retirement Risks 
    February
    The Society of Actuaries is pleased to make available a series of reports highlighting the SOA’s extensive body of research on post-retirement risks and issues.

2023

  • Market Readiness of Long-Term Care Products in Asia-Pacific Markets
  • December
    The purpose of this study is to provide valuable insights and recommendations for insurance companies that are considering entering the market of commercial long-term care insurance (LTCI) in the Asia-Pacific markets, based on individual health status. This study reviews the development of LTCI in the main markets in Asia-Pacific, drawing conclusions about market experiences and offering inspiration for product development.
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  • The Impact of Climate Change Risk on Retirement - Essay Collection
  • November
  • The Society of Actuaries Research Institute Aging and Retirement and Catastrophe and Climate Strategic Research Programs are pleased to present this collection of essays that explores the impact of climate risk on retirement from authors with varying perspectives.
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  • College and Retirement Savings Consumer Survey
  • October
  • The SOA Research Institute conducted an online survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents who are actively saving for both their retirement and a family member’s or friend’s college education. The results offer a better understanding of the challenges families face. Read the report for detailed findings or peruse the infographic for an overview.
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  • RPEC 2023 Mortality Improvement Update
  • October
  • This report presents research into recent population mortality experience compiled by the Retirement Plans Experience Committee of the Society of Actuaries Research Institute as it pertains to development of mortality improvement assumptions for measuring obligations of retirement programs in the United States.
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  • Retirement Planning and Decision-Making Among Early Middle-Aged Adults
  • October
  • The objective of this study was to gain insights into the savings and retirement planning of 35- to 45-year-olds and the attitudes, beliefs, life experiences, pressures, and other factors that influence their savings and planning. Toward that end, eight focus groups of men and women ages 35 to 45 were convened in January and February 2023 to discuss with an experienced focus group moderator what they are doing to prepare for their retirement.
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  • The Role of Insurers in Developing the Third Pillar of China's Pension System
  • September
  • China's pension system is facing funding challenges because of changing demographics. The first pillar, which relies on contributions from current workers, is particularly vulnerable to an aging population. While the second pillar has shown some growth, its limited coverage cannot fully bridge the funding gap of the first pillar. The third pillar presents a potential solution to enhance the financial sustainability of China's pension system, and actuaries can play a crucial role in advancing this third pillar.
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  • Managing Retirement Decisions 
    September
    A landmark effort examining the major decisions encountered in retirement, the result is a thought-provoking series of issue briefs that tackle a variety of retirement decisions with practical considerations and advice.
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  • Guide to Domestic and International Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs
  • June
  • The SOA Research Institute along with the International Section, and the Social Insurance and Public Finance Section are pleased to make available a research report that compares international and domestic mandated paid family and medical leave programs.
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  • Megatrends Impacting the Future of Retirement
  • April
  • The SOA Research Institute Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program and Retirement Section are pleased to make available a research report that examines megatrends and potential paradigm shifts, and how they may impact the future of retirement and retirement plans, as well as the macro forces that will shape those trends.
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  • Informal Caregiving: Measuring the Cost and Reducing the Burden
  • April
  • The SOA Research Institute Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program and the Long-Term Care Insurance Section are pleased to make available a research report analyzing the need for informal caregiving and its impacts on employees, employers, and other stakeholders. 
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  • What Retirement Plan Features Do Employees Really Want?
  • March
  • The SOA Retirement Section and Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program are pleased to make available material from a research study that explored: What Retirement Plan Features do Employees Really Want? The report presents the findings of an online survey of U.S. adults conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.
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  • Long-Term Care Coverage: Stakeholder Opinions on State-Based Catastrophic Insurance
    February
    The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available a report that explores stakeholder views in Minnesota on the efficacy of a public catastrophic long-term care insurance program at the state level.
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  • The Impact of Inflation on Retirement - Essay Collection
    February
    The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release a collection of essays addressing the impact of inflation on retirement and retirement-related issues.
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  • Benefit at Risk for Lifetime Pension Pools
    February
    The SOA Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program and Canadian Institute of Actuaries are pleased to make available the first of two reports that look at Benefit at Risk (BaR) in lifetime pension pools.
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  • Long-Term Services and Supports: Usage and Payment by Race, Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Factors
    January
    An exploration of how the need for, utilization of and payment for long-term services and supports differ in the U.S. by population cohorts defined by race, ethnicity and other socioeconomic factors.
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  • 2021 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey 
    January
    The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available material from the latest biennial survey, Risks and Process of Retirement.
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  • Primer on Retirement Income Strategy Design and Evaluation
    January
    The SOA Research Institute is pleased to make available a primer that addresses strategies to generate income during retirement from the perspectives of their design and evaluation. In addition to the primer, the authors have created two Excel models for illustrative purposes.

2022

  • Aging and Retirement Issues for LGBTQ+ People - Essay Collection
    November
    The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program in collaboration with the Sexuality and Gender Alliance of Actuaries (SAGAA) is pleased to release a collection of essays in response to a call for essays aimed at a broader exploration of issues related to aging and retirement for LGBTQ+ people.
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  • Analyzing Geographical Variation in Cause-of-Death Mortality for China
    September
    This report models and forecasts future mortality improvements in China, by geographical regions, as well as by causes of death. Deaths and population exposures data provided by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention was used for the period 2004–2019.
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  • Late-in-Life Decisions Guide
    April
    The Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available a guide written by Financial Finesse to help older retirees and those who assist them make informed decisions.
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  • Disparities in the Pursuit of Financial Security in Retirement by Race and Ethnicity: A Review of the Disparities and Key Metrics to Monitor Them in the Future
    April
    How does retirement preparedness in the U.S. vary across racial/ethnic groups? This report compiles and analyzes a wide variety of works that look at this question through various limited, specific viewpoints. The result provides a broader perspective through comparison of seven metrics tracked from 2012 to 2021.
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  • Life Journey Study 
    February 
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging & Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available two reports focused on how families cope with the final years of life.
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  • Financial Perspectives on Aging and Retirement Across the Generations 
    February
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release the results of a study focused on the financial perspectives of aging and retirement of Americans across five generations, including Millennials, Gen X, Early Boomers, Late Boomers and the Silent Generation. In addition, the study, a follow-up to a survey conducted in 2018, seeks to understand how the habits and behaviors from earlier in life played out in the later years of retirement.
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  • Keeping Retirement Plans Secure in an Insecure World 
    February
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program and LIMRA’s Secure Retirement Institute are pleased to release a report summarizing a series of interviews with retirement plan recordkeepers and subject matter experts regarding industry practices in financial crimes and fraud prevention.

2021

2020

  • Impact of COVID-19 on Retirement
    December
    This page includes all retirement related material on COVID-19.
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  • Thinking Ahead: Informing the Design of a Roadmap for Keeping Your Money Safe as You Age
    October
    The Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available a report summarizing the research phase of a multi-phase project leading to publication of a Conversation Guide to plan for changes in financial capacity and decision-making.
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  • Redefining the Goal of Retirement Planning – Essay Collection
    October
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release a collection of essays in response to a call for essays aimed to gather perspectives, opinions and data on how to advance the state of effective retirement planning to assist individuals, actuaries, financial advisors, employers, and other stakeholders.
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  • 2019 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey
    August
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available material highlighting important findings for the biennial survey, Risks and Process of Retirement.
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  • Products, Tools, and Strategies that Address Retirement Risks – Essay Collection
    May 
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release a collection of essays aimed to gather perspectives, opinions and data on how to advance the state of effective retirement planning tools, products, and strategies to assist individuals, financial advisors, employers, and other stakeholders.
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  • Managing Post-Retirement Risks: Strategies for a Secure Retirement (Risk Chart)
    May 
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available the fourth edition of the retirement risk chart. This chart provides information for consumers and other audiences on retirement risks and strategies for managing these risks.

2019

  • Retirement Literacy
    August
    The Society of Actuaries Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program and Financial Finesse are pleased to make available a series of briefs focused on retirement literacy issues.
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  • Viability of the Spend Safely in Retirement Strategy
    July      
    The Society of Actuaries’ Committee on Post Retirement Needs and Risks is pleased to make available a research report that explores various design and implementation details for the Spend Safely in Retirement Strategy (SSiRS). This strategy is intended to be used by middle-income workers and retirees to generate retirement income from IRAs and employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans.
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  • Family Structure, Roles and Dynamics Linked to Retirement Security – Essay Collection
    June   
    The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks is pleased to present this essay collection, which shares thoughts and opinions on the current and potential impact that structure, roles and dynamics of families have on retirement security in the United States.
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  • Insights on Spending and Asset Management in Retirement 
    May   
    The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is pleased to make available a report summarizing key points made during an online discussion through the SOA’s Aging & Retirement Strategic Research Program and issues related to spending in retirement, asset management and the use of Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLAC).
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  • 2017 Retirement Risk Survey 
    March   
    The SOA Committee on Post Retirement Needs and Risks is pleased to make available the full report, an overview report, and other reports highlighting important findings for the biennial survey, Risks and Process of Retirement.
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  • Financial Perspectives on Aging and Retirement Across the Generations 
    February
    The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release the results of a study focused on the financial perspectives of aging and retirement of Americans across five generations, including Millennials, Gen X, Early Boomers, Late Boomers and the Silent Generation. In addition, the study seeks to understand how the habits and behaviors from earlier in life played out in the later years of retirement.

2018

  • Modeling and Forecasting Chinese Population Dynamics in a Multi-Population Context 
    December 
    The purpose of this project is to forecast China's population structure in the coming decades by projecting both the mortality and fertility rates of the Chinese population. In particular, we forecast China's future mortality rates in a multiple-population context, by explicitly allowing its systematic mortality patterns to gradually converge to those of a group of more developed countries with higher life expectancy levels and better data quality.
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  • A Conversation on Dementia and Cognitive Decline
    December
    The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is pleased to make available a report summarizing key points made during an online discussion through the SOA’s Aging & Retirement Strategic Research Program and issues related to dementia and cognitive decline. Participants included actuaries, retirement researchers, financial advisors, attorneys, economists, and financial writers.
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  • The Sightlines Project – Seeing Our Way to Financial Security in the Age of Increased Longevity
    November
    The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is pleased to make available research material from the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL). The SOA was one of several sponsors of this report that focuses on predictions of financial security at different life stages using pertinent findings from the earlier Sightlines report on financial security.
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  • Securing Future Retirements Essay Collection
    May
    The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks is pleased to present this essay collection, which shares thoughts and opinions on how to advance the state of effective planning strategies, products and employee benefit plan structures to help secure future retirements.
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  • 2017 Retirement Risk Survey
    May  
    The SOA Committee on Post Retirement Needs and Risks is pleased to make available the full report, an overview report, and other reports highlighting important findings for the biennial survey, Risks and Process of Retirement.
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  • Post-Retirement Experiences of Individuals 85+ Years Old
    May
    The Society of Actuaries’ Committee on Post Retirement Needs and Risks is pleased to make available two research reports on post-retirement experiences of individuals 85+ years old. The study seeks to understand how the habits and behaviors from earlier in life played out in the later years of retirement.
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  • Understanding and Managing Post-Retirement Risks
    April
    The Society of Actuaries is pleased to make available a series of reports highlighting the SOA’s extensive body of research on post-retirement risks and issues.

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

 

Other Resources

Living to 100
Living to 100 is a research effort which includes a triennial international research symposium.

 

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