Description: This article is a summary of the SOA Research Institute report published in April 2023 on Megatrends Impacting the Future of Retirement Plans.

Description: The SOA Research Institute is pleased to make available material for Primer on Retirement Income Strategy Design and Evaluation, a primer that addresses strategies to generate income during retirement from the perspectives of their design and evaluation. Design involves specifying a joint investment and withdrawal strategy, which entails deciding how to invest available assets and setting a plan for withdrawing income. Evaluation involves analyzing how well the potential outcomes arising from a strategy satisfy objectives, which provides the foundation for strategy selection. The main focus of this Primer is investment strategy rather than withdrawal strategy. However, investment strategy cannot be examined independently from withdrawal strategy. Income generation is the focal point of a retirement income strategy, and this in turn depends on the rules under which income is drawn. In addition to the primer, the authors have created two Excel models for illustrative purposes.

Description: This report examines a series of megatrends that can impact the future of retirement and retirement plans, as well as the macro forces that will shape those trends.

Description: This article focuses on personal experiences and observations, what risk managers say about emerging risks, how climate and emerging risks fit into the bigger retirement picture for the individual, and how they affect actuaries and plan sponsors. During the last few years, there has been an increasing concern about the impact of emerging risks and about concerns about them. Climate change is a top emerging risk. At the end of 2022, climate change was highlighted in the news as a major concern. At the 2022 annual meeting of the SOA, it was clear that actuaries accepted the importance of climate change and the need to think about how it affected many areas of practice. It is however clear that disruption can also come from other emerging risks. This article focuses on the broader picture of emerging risks but with more detail about climate change. It looks at the issues through SOA research, personal experience and other data to provide a big picture insight into these risks and retirement security.

Description: This research provides insights and recommendations to optimize and enhance the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of China's pension system.

Description: There is no silver bullet to improving retirement income outcomes for retirees. However, a combination of changes can be of significant value in addressing this overlooked issue. Although QLACs on the surface have potential value, they are not nearly as efficient as they could be. So far, employer plans have provided limited options for retirement income solutions. IRAs may not cost effectively serve the best interest of retirees. Employer plans should be encouraged to become retirement income providers and alternative approaches should be considered. The current prohibition on allowing plans to modify benefit payouts based on mortality experience should be reconsidered to allow for innovative plan income designs. Improvements to the deaccumulation stage of the retiree nest egg are challenging yet necessary.

Description: The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release a collection of essays addressing the impact of inflation on retirement and retirement-related issues.

Description: The SOA Research Institute seeks researchers and essayists to explore the multifaceted impacts of climate risk on retirement. The desired deliverable is a resource that catalogues major related issues while providing current considerations and potential future dynamics. The intended audience for this effort is actuaries and other retirement professionals.

Description: Explore an essay collection from the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute that focuses on how climate change may impact retirement security.

Description: Interview with the current Chair of the Retirement Section Council, describing the work of the Council and other topics.