Description: This report presents findings from the 2013 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey, specifically those relating to personal risk management. Plans made and actions taken throughout people’s formative working lives develop their “life portfolios.” An important part includes making provisions for their senior years. These steps and efforts continued beyond their working lives to optimize physical, cognitive, emotional and financial well-being comprise their personal management of retirement risk. Such measures include, but are not limited to, when they choose to retire and take Social Security; their spending habits; how they manage debt; how they plan living arrangements and utilize the equity in their homes; the financial products they purchase; and how they employ financial planning services.

Description: The purpose of the latest in this series, the 2005 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey, is to evaluate Americans’ awareness of such risks, how their awareness has changed since 2003, and how it affects the way they manage their finances. This report focuses on attitudes toward longevity specifically in the context of planning for and managing the financial risk of outliving assets in retirement, and relates the public’s understanding of these issues to other studies. Three other reports cover in greater depth the process of retirement, other post-retirement risks, and retirement issues of special concern to women. The 2001, 2003 and 2005 studies separately analyzed current retirees and those not yet retired, referred to in these reports as ‘pre-retirees.’

Description: This report highlights the findings of the 2009 survey and focuses on issues in the survey specifically as they relate to economic and financial issues.

Description: This is a transcript of a roundtable discussion moderated by Anna Rappaport. The purpose of the roundtable is 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. This roundtable discussion was the catalyst for the article, 'Perspectives on Retirement Planning and Consumption' written by Steven S. Siegel for the October/November 2007 Actuary magazine.

Description: This research summarizes interviews of individuals 85+ years old, looking at how habits and behaviors from earlier in life affect the later years of retirement.

Description: This report presents the results of a telephone survey among Americans aged 45 to 80 conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., and the Employee Benefit Research Institute EBRI on behalf of the Society of Actuaries. The purpose of the study was to evaluate Americans’ awareness of potential financial risks in retirement, how this awareness impacts the management of their finances with respect to retirement, and how Americans are managing the process of leaving the workforce.

Description: The summary provides an overview of the report, written by the Project Oversight Group.

Description: This report highlights the findings of the 2009 survey and focuses on issues in the survey specifically as they relate to personal risk management strategies and the process of planning for retirement.

Description: This report highlights findings from the 2011 Retirement Risks Survey related to economic and financial issues, with additional sources for commentary.