Description: This paper analyzes the two tax advantages of qualified retirement savings plans: the tax deductibility of contributions and the nontaxation of investment income until it has been distributed. The author concludes that there is both a deferral of taxation and a waiver of taxation. From Pension Section News, June 2000, Issue No. 42.

Description: summary of Canadian topics from recent Retirement Section Council meeting. Update on defined contribution initiative and potential US legislation. Highlight recent SOA research on retirement income.

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: An interview with actuary Lee Gold reveals preliminary results of a recent SOA research project which surveyed employees on what retirement plan features they prefer.

Description: This is a study of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) mortality experience. The study consists of data furnished by the PBGC for the time period of September 30, 2009 through September 30, 2014. All of the data come from single-employer pension plans taken over by the PBGC in a distress termination. This is the SOA’s first study of PBGC experience and provides another comparison point of retirement plans mortality experience for work performed by pension actuaries.

Description: This paper is intended to help plan sponsor fiduciaries understand existing options and carry out their due diligence when studying retirement income solutions for DC retirement plans. It educates human resources and financial professionals at plan sponsors about the potential issues, solutions, and processes involved with implementing, administering, and communicating a retirement income program for their plan participants.

Description: This study examines reductions in retirement benefits from the decline in defined benefit plans and increases in defined contribution plans during the past 20 years and what effect this has on workforce management. In particular how this change is affecting older workers’ decisions to retire and what effect this could have on companies. An underlying assumption implicit in evaluating the benefit of retirement of older workers is that productivity declines in old age while pay does not, leading to a pay productivity gap that could have an adverse effect on the employer from delayed retirement. The validity of this assumption was also examined.

Description: Many factors contribute to one’s ability to save and prepare for retirement. This essay examines the influence family structure has on retirement preparedness.

Description: Summary of defined contribution research reports, including research category and target audience.

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.