Description: This paper identifies and discusses 10 ways in which Americans lack a realistic understanding of retirement saving.

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: This is an introduction to the SOA call for essays around risk strategies pertaining to the diverse risks found in retirement. We are pleased that these essays can be included in this issue of Pension Section News, along with a short interview with each author.

Description: This article discusses the agenda of the Retirement Needs Framework Conference to be held on Dec. 10-11, 1998 in Orlando, FL. The conference is intended for employee benefit managers and consultants, policy analysts, financial planners, product designers at insurers, mutual funds and banks offering products to help finance retirement, academics, and any professional interested in the issues surrounding retirement costs.

Description: This article summarizes a roundtable discussion moderated by Anna Rappaport. The purpose of the roundtable was to discuss a model of personal investing known as the Life–Cycle Model of Investing and Saving. This model is concerned with how individuals can find ways to smooth their consumption so that they have a roughly similar standard of living across different periods of time.

Description: The 2020 ERISA Advisory Council of the Department of Labor had a project on Considerations for Recognizing and Addressing Participants with Diminished Capacity. I delivered testimony to the ERSIA Advisory Council on this topic in September 2020. This article summarizes some key points from the testimony and also offers ideas for how employers can help employees and retirees deal with these issues. There are two different audiences that employers deal with as a result of diminished capacity – the individuals whose capacity is diminished, and those who help them.

Description: Discusses some basic issues for women to consider in planning for the possibility of being alone.

Description: The author provides an overview of the symposium and highlights the material of particular interest to pension actuaries. From the Pension Section News, September 2008, Issue No. 68.

Description: SOA surveys public attitudes about post-retirement risk and its management every two years. This is 7th survey. Article provides highlights of 2013 survey, comments on longer term findings, and information about how to use results. Results are useful for those managing pension plans, developing products, helping individuals and also for policymakers. This issues are particularly important in situations where there are no defined benefit plans.

Description: This is a review of 'Restructuring Retirement Risks,' a collection of papers that examines retirement risks, edited by David Blitzstein, Olivia Mitchell, and Stephen Utkus. The papers, which are a must–read for serious students of retirement systems and a good introduction for those not as familiar with the issues, explore the stresses being placed on those systems and ever–increasing uncertainty as Baby Boomers begin to move into retirement.