Description: This report presents the results of a 2005 telephone study among Americans ages 45 to 80. The purpose of the study was to evaluate Americans' awareness of potential financial risks, how this awareness impacts the management of their finances with respect to retirement and how Americans are managing the process of leaving the workforce.

Description: This report presents the results of six focus groups with retirees who have at least $100,000 of investable assets and must depend on that money to maintain their lifestyles because they do not have sufficient amounts of annuitized income from Social Security and defined benefit plans to meet all of their expenses. The purpose of the focus groups was to gain an understanding of how current retirees approach key financial decisions about managing their money in retirement. The benefits of this qualitative study are multidisciplinary. It can help: 1. actuaries design better retirement financial systems, 2. the financial services industry understand areas of misperception and causes of poor management, and 3. provide policy-makers an understanding of how to drive public policy goals.

Description: This report provides an overview of post-retirement risks, how they are perceived, and ways to protect against them. It presents key findings on the major retirement risks explored in the 2009 Retirement Risk Survey and provides context for the results in relation to other studies.

Description: This study provides insight about what retirees and those nearing retirement age say about management of post-retirement risk and the use of various strategies for managing that risk.

Description: This report presents findings from the 2013 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey, specifically those relating to personal risk management. Plans made and actions taken throughout people’s formative working lives develop their “life portfolios.” An important part includes making provisions for their senior years. These steps and efforts continued beyond their working lives to optimize physical, cognitive, emotional and financial well-being comprise their personal management of retirement risk. Such measures include, but are not limited to, when they choose to retire and take Social Security; their spending habits; how they manage debt; how they plan living arrangements and utilize the equity in their homes; the financial products they purchase; and how they employ financial planning services.

Description: This report highlights the findings of the 2009 survey and focuses on issues in the survey specifically as they relate to personal risk management strategies and the process of planning for retirement.

Description: This report presents the results of a telephone survey among Americans aged 45 to 80 conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., and the Employee Benefit Research Institute EBRI on behalf of the Society of Actuaries. The purpose of the study was to evaluate Americans’ awareness of potential financial risks in retirement, how this awareness impacts the management of their finances with respect to retirement, and how Americans are managing the process of leaving the workforce.

Description: This report presents the results of a survey conducted for the Society of Actuaries Pension Section Research Committee by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc, March 2005. The purpose of the survey was to examine the prevalence of traditional and hybrid defined benefit pension plans in large organizations that have operations in the United States. The results of the study may prove useful to pension practitioners and policy makers wishing to gauge the effect of a recent US court ruling with potentially widespread implications for pension plans commonly referred to as cash balance plans.

Description: To help the next generations to retire with financial security, financial services companies, employers, and financial advisors must do more. There are two paths to doing more: providing programs that work without individuals making choices on their own, and providing more education and encouragement. This paper is an attempt to move these efforts forward by presenting ideas for what consumers, employers, financial professionals, financial services companies, and government should do to help deal with the ongoing retirement challenges.

Description: This is the report on the findings of the January 2002 retirement risk survey. The purpose of the study was to evaluate American's awareness of possible financial risks and how this awareness impacts the management of their finances with respect to retirement.