Description: In this article, author Anna Rappaport discusses highlights and wake-up calls from the December, 2009 Annual Retirement Security Symposium.

Description: This article provides a perspective on the SOA’s Aging and Retirement research reports, and on the types of research that are included. The SOA does a lot of research on different retirement topics, and many people are not aware of the scope of this work. This article offers an overview of the big picture as we think about the future. The article describes longer-term challenges to the US retirement system and recent developments that have affected the system and created uncertainty. It provides an overview of what individuals have said about retirement and their view of post-retirement risks and planning in a variety of consumer research studies. It then reviews some of the research and provides information on summary reports which provide insight on the findings from multiple related research reports. It also provides information about consumer education and what is currently available and in process. It then focuses on how the SOA is helping retirement professionals understand current and expected change and discusses areas of uncertainty as we help those we serve deal with change.

Description: Planning for retirement in North America has become much more challenging as the defined benefit system has declined. We must take more responsibility for ourselves. As we plan, many societal forces affect us. Both men and women are disadvantaged because Americans in particular are not very good savers. While pension plans and Social Security, or CPP/QPP/OAS in Canada, generally use the same formulas for men and women, often the results are different. This article focuses on the challenges women face in retirement.

Description: Women have different resources and experiences than men in retirement, partly due to demographic and life cycle differences and partly due to societal practices. This article reviews the differences, the situation 25 years ago, and then compares the situation 25 years ago to the situation today. Some of the big long lasting issues are differences in life spans and periods of disability, differences in pay, different shares of caregiving responsibility and differences of time out of the workplace. It finds some things that have improved, but other issues that existed 25 years ago have still not been addressed. New issues have arisen. The article draws on a presentation given at the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER). It also focuses on the impact of COVID and the changes that have taken place in the workplace in the last few years. It provides insights into and discussions of the pros and cons of remote and hybrid work arrangements. It provides insights into issues that still need to be addressed.

Description: Discussion of the need to understand the implications of demographic and family diversity for the design of retirement programs. The design of retirement programs is a design of programs for the elderly, who are more often women, because women live longer and because their work histories often lead to reduced levels of pension and social security benefits.