Description: Article presents a potential role for pension actuaries to help assess the effectiveness of defined contribution plans.

Description: Review of paper describing Collective Defined Contribution Plans. the elimination of traditional pensions by many companies have left employees without easy access to reliable retirement income Collective Defined Contribution plans which are used to a small extent in the US but more broadly used elsewhere offer an option for consideration.

Description: Though some defined contribution plans have added retirement income options in the form of annuities, there is a challenge to retirees in deciding whether to select such options and if so the amount to purchase. This article discusses a variety of considerations that retirees should be aware of when making a decision to annuitize.

Description: The paper demonstrates that the most popular rationalization for evolving glide paths is flawed and should be discarded. The paper also demonstrates that glide paths should generally evolve for investors that endeavor to optimize outcomes and reevaluate their portfolios regularly.

Description: The article and guidebook of the same name use a stochastic simulation model to examine potential impacts of public pension plan risk-sharing policies on government employers and plan members. Policies examined include simple policies such as COLAs and employee contributions that are contingent upon investment returns or funded ratios, and more-complex policies similar to those used in the Wisconsin Retirement System.

Description: Actuarial funding of OPEB plans is primarily a public sector phenomenon due to the different regulations and tax laws that impact private sector organizations in the US. OPEB funding started to gain momentum with the implementation of GASB Statement 45 in the mid to late 2000s.

Description: Defined benefit plans have been disappearing from the private sector retirement program landscape. 401k Plans that have taken their place are not designed to provide retiree lifetime income. Individuals seldom work for a single employer and thus have many retirement accounts spread about. This commentary discusses an alternative approach to providing retirement income a voluntary basis in a vehicle that is decoupled from employers.

Description: Collective Defined Contribution Plans offer an option in plan design that lies somewhere between defined benefit and defined contribution plans. This is achieved by fixing the contributions to the plan, but allowing benefits to fluctuate based on experience. This article provides a basic summary of how they can be structured. There are limitations to their use in the US, but are gaining in popularity elsewhere around the globe.

Description: The Society of Actuaries (SOA) and Stanford Center on Longevity released a report exploring the feasibility of implementing the “Spend Safely in Retirement Strategy.

Description: Critical factors to consider as we age include where we live, who we interact with, how we get the help and support we need when we need it, and how our health care is organized and delivered. Underlying this is how we finance the cost of specialized housing, care and support. Some communities are age-friendly where we can obtain supportive services, others are not. Some people choose to live in senior housing which integrates support services, others choose to live in the community among people of all ages. Some health care systems are well designed to meet the needs of older people, others are not. The cost of living for older adults, considering all of these factors, varies by community. Explore more about the perspective of older adults, how communities have structured to meet their needs, and how society as a whole is becoming aware of and addressing a growing aging population.