Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.

Description: Discusses some basic issues for women to consider in planning for the possibility of being alone.

Description: An article presenting updated results as of 12/2021 by using analgorithm that formed part of a paper presented at the AFIR-ERMColloquium which took place in Panama, in 2017. This article starts by proving that the conditions that have to be met in order for the formula to apply that were present in 12/2015 still hold.

Description: The article is an interview with Barbara Hogg who summarizes the results of a survey of Americans about their awareness of financial risks faced in retirement and how they are managing those risks. The survey was commissioned by the SOA and is the 11th iteration of such a survey.

Description: Falling equity markets and interest rates have devastated pension plans worldwide during the past several years. The Standard & Poor’s 500 companies enjoyed a collective pension surplus of $252 billion in 1999. Even after the 2003 market rally, they face a deficit of $179 billion in 2003 Bianco 2003. These events have spotlighted the weakness of current funding and investment practices for corporate defined benefit pension plans. This article presents a case for securing all accrued benefits through “Full Funding.”

Description: Brief discussion of highlights of past Living to 100 Research Symposia, urging readers to attend 2023 symposium

Description: This is a review of 'Restructuring Retirement Risks,' a collection of papers that examines retirement risks, edited by David Blitzstein, Olivia Mitchell, and Stephen Utkus. The papers, which are a must–read for serious students of retirement systems and a good introduction for those not as familiar with the issues, explore the stresses being placed on those systems and ever–increasing uncertainty as Baby Boomers begin to move into retirement.

Description: The author provides an overview of the symposium and highlights the material of particular interest to pension actuaries. From the Pension Section News, September 2008, Issue No. 68.

Description: The editorial discusses the challenges and actuarial considerations of older workers remaining in the workforce longer than they have in the past.