Description: The SOA Research Institute tasked the Workforce Science Institute to investigate how retirement benefit plans can affect a plan sponsor’s workforce and business results. The following is an interview with Rick Guzzo and Haig Nalbantian co-founders of the Workforce Science Institute who are the researchers on this project. The interview gives a helicopter view of the project as well as provides some “food for thought” on how retirement plans can be designed to produce an effective workforce.

Description: An overview of the state old age pension systems in four European countries that is intended to provide additional international context for a discussion of possible design and financing reforms for US social security.

Description: Tom Terry, FSA, FCA, MAAA, EA, who founded Chicago Consulting Actuaries in 1991, is interviewed by Sam Phillips in this article. The discussion explores how and why Terry started his own business, the opportunities and risks involved, innovations his firm has come up with, and the future of pension consulting. The article includes advice for those interested in starting their own business.

Description: Chairperson's corner for January 2020 In the Public Interest.

Description: Section chairperson's column describing section membership benefits.

Description: International Section Newsletter, April 2005, Issue No. 35. This article pertains to offshore pension plans and their role in global pension plans. It discusses the rationale for setting up an off-shore pension plan, determining a location, benefit design, required funding, establishment and operation and trusteeship and administration

Description: In this article, we describe new approaches to long-term care financing that rely on home equity release and we address several of the challenges mentioned above. While these approaches stand to help expand the potential for long-term care financing to middle-class Americans, even these approaches don’t address a large swath of the U.S. with less privilege, who have little or no home equity. We will discuss the product design, marketing, pricing and risk management of these new approaches and potential behavioral factors that should be considered. The article builds on a growing body of academic research to which the authors have actively contributed. We want to share the key insights of this international work in market research, economics, and actuarial studies to stimulate more research in this area.

Description: The author reportsand reflectson the rich and diverse findings and viewpoints presented at the October, 2008 Future of Life Cycle Savings and Investment Conference held at the Boston University School of Management. Links to the papers presented and more details as to the conference, as well as to a video, are provided.

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: When building stress tests, modelers need to consider worst cases that are plausible. The most useful and robust scenarios begin qualitatively, with a narrative or story. Consistent quantitative relationships are then developed.