Description: In this introductory session, we set the stage for the Symposium’s entire ElderTech track. We’ve seen increasing technology adaptation by the elderly in many areas of their lives, including socializing, health care, mobility, home monitoring, insurance, investing and financial planning. Panelists will provide an overview of the current state of ElderTech and how they believe it will evolve in the short and long term. Panelists will also discuss the problems ElderTech is trying to solve, consumer pain points and why ElderTech has become so important recently.

Description: Jacquelyn B. James, Ph.D. is director of the Center on Aging & Work and the Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work at Boston College; she is also a fellow in the Behavioral and Social Science Division of the Gerontological Society of America. Her research has focused on the meaning and experience of work, gender roles and stereotypes, adult development, perceptions of older workers and emerging retirement issues. Since 2014, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Dr. James has been building the Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work, a multi-disciplinary, international network. Dr. James, along with Dr. Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, edited a special issue of the journal, Work, Aging & Retirement—Change in the Meaning and Experience of Work in Life. James is past president of the Society for the Study of Human Development and serves on the editorial board of Work, Aging & Retirement.

Description: This article provides an overview of the relationship to COVID-19 to issues related to caregiving, family and long-term care, and related SOA research. The SOA has addressed these topics in several research reports not related to COVID-19 and in recent reports related to COVID-19. It is currently working on new projects to help people better address some of the issues. The article also includes some highlights of efforts by ASEC, the ERISA Advisory Council 2020 projects, and an educational program focused on these issues. It then focuses on a number of things that employers might do to be supportive in addressing these issues. The employer issues focus on employees, retirees and caregiving employers. In thinking about this, employers can focus on financial wellness programs, employee assistance programs, and prepaid legal programs. A list of topics to considered for educational offers is included.

Description: The Society of Actuaries’ (SOA) Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program in collaboration with the International Association of Black Actuaries (IABA) and the Organization of Latino Actuaries (OLA) are pleased to publish this essay collection on Aging and Retirement Issues in People of Different Races and Ethnicities. This effort explores how differences in wealth and retirement outcomes are experienced by people of different races and ethnicities and promotes a better understanding of the underlying issues surrounding the differences.

Description: This report will provide an overview of how COVID-19 and the related societal changes have affected U.S. employers and individuals as we focus on retirement, summarize the SOA Research Institute-sponsored research, identify some of the current uncertainties, and provide ideas and questions for thinking about the future. This is a relatively unusual report because most COVID-19 related reports have focused on immediate issues, and not on thinking about the longer term. The Institute reports consider longer-term issues and raise questions that need to be answered.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'Fundamental Mathematics of Life Insurance' by Floyd S. Harper and Lewis C. Workman, 2. 'Mathematics of Compound Interest' by Marjorie V. Butcher and Cecil J. Nesbitt, 3.'Compound Interest and Annuities-Certain' by D. W. A. Donald, 4. 'Demography' by P. R. Cox, 5. 'The Spirit and the Uses of the Mathematical Sciences' edited by Thomas L. Saaty and F. Joachim Weyl, 6. 'Ethics, Morality, and Insurance' by John D. Long, 7. Reports of the 1971 Advisory Council on Social Security, 8. 'Medical Care at Public Expense' by Mark V. Pauly 9. 'Eleventh Actuarial Valuation of the Assets and Liabilities under the Railroad Retirement Acts as of December 31, 1968, with Technical Supplement' by the Railroad Retirement Board, 10. 'Nouvelles tables-types de mortalité' by Sully Ledermann, 11. 'A Table of Expected Working Life for Men, 1968' by Howard W. Fullerton, 12. 'Disability-Determination and Evaluation' by Henry H. Kessler, 13. 'Industrial Safety Statistics: A Re-examination' by Jerome B. Gordon, Allan Akman, and Michael L. Brooks, 14. 'Pensions and Severance Pay for Displaced Defense Workers' by Hugh Folk and PauI Hartman, 15. 'Trends and Variations in Fertility in the United States' by Clyde V. Kiser, Wilson H. Grabill, and Arthur A. Campbell, 16. 'Benefit Plans in Junior Colleges' by Francis P. King, 17. 'The Consumer's Guide to Insurance Buying' by Vladimir P. Chernik, and 18. 'Private Pension Scheme Finance' by Sylvia and Leslie Tutt. Notices of other studies and articles are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 67.

Description: Appendix A to SOA Research Report: Models for Retirement Policy Analysis. Terms described in this appendix include: Aging dynamic and static, Behavioral response first and second-round effects, Calibration, Distributional analysis including gainers and losers tables, Dynamic model, Filing unit, Imputation including hot deck, Matching exact and statistical, Microsimulation model, Static model, Weighting. Terms are defined with reference to their application in social welfare policy modeling.

Description: This section provides multiple book reviews and summaries of recent publications. Many of the books reviewed deal with pensions, retirement and Social Security. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1973, Vol. 25, Pt. 1, No. 72 AB.

Description: As part of its ongoing effort to provide useful information on COVID-19, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) recently launched a series of reports exploring the impact of COVID-19 on retirement risks.This report is based on a follow-up conversation among actuaries from the SOA Retirement Section Council and the Retirement Section Defined Contribution Initiative Project Oversight Group. The actuaries that participated are currently working with plan sponsors of defined contribution plans in the United States and Canada. This report summarizes observations raised during the conversation about the current issues being discussed with clients to deal with immediate concerns as well as broader considerations about defined contribution plans, emergency funds and financial wellness.

Description: Feature article discussing the SOA’s Retirement 20/20 initiative.