Description: Andy Rallis delivers his speech at the presidential luncheon of the SOA 2019 SOA Annual Meeting & Exhibit in Toronto.

Description: The widening gap in life span between high- and low-income Americans may be eroding the progressivity of Social Security retirement benefits. Differential longevity trends have had the effect of raising lifetime benefits for high earners but not for low earners. Social Security’s long-term financial problems result in part from an increase in average life expectancy driven by wealthier people living longer, and, thereby, collecting more benefits. Policymakers should not use funding shortfalls attributable to these trends as an excuse to cut monthly benefits alike for those who have gained (high earners) and for those who haven’t (low earners).

Description: This is the second article in the “Process of Innovation” series, and it is focused on the process of generating and vetting promising ideas for introducing new lines of business, new processes, new products, or a new business.

Description: Vision and objectives and projects for the International Section.

Description: In his book The Power of Habit (2012), Charles Duhigg tells a tale of finding common ground and reaching consensus on change. The common ground that was sought between warring corporate tribes was mutually beneficial, not just to achieve the ends to which those changes were aimed, but also for the cooperation that they engendered across the entire organization.

Description: Notes on the IAA meeting that took place in D.C. in May

Description: The SOA's Competency Framework for Actuaries is a tool to help actuaries make decisions related to their individual professional development and career management plans. It applies systematic, sound approaches to selecting professional development opportunities, focusing on the skills needed to go beyond technical and specific actuarial analysis. This is an Excel file that facilitates that process by providing a personal planning workbook.

Description: This article is about the need for actuaries and technical professionals to develop critical leadership and other soft skills, and highlights the ways the SOA Leadership & Development section provides tools to develop those skills.

Description: The editor previews the articles in this issue.

Description: This essay explores the role that the emerging defined contribution retirement system may be playing in the growth of wealth inequality in the United States. The current system leaves many Americans with little or no retirement savings. Those with higher accumulation levels appear to invest proportionally more in equities, which may have an exponential effect of balances over long time periods. The author hypothesizes that willingness to take investment risk involves the relationship between the amount an investor has accumulated and what she/he needs in order to cover basic costs of living. This is one reason that investors with greater accumulation levels may be able to earn higher rates of return. The essay concludes by suggesting that the U.S. defined contribution system should include all workers and provide additional fiduciary guidance. Examples reforms, both in the U.S. and other countries, are provided.