Description: This article describes several uses of pension surplus assets and makes a case for maintaining and growing a surplus.

Description: The Society of Actuaries’ Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to make available a summary report that highlights key findings from the latest biennial survey, Risks and Process of Retirement. The survey, the eleventh in the series, was conducted online of Americans ages 45 to 80. The purpose of the study is 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. The survey was conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc. The full report of findings is forthcoming and will be posted soon. Additionally, several special topics reports examining aspects of the findings will be posted as they become available.

Description: This session is open to all, but targeted to pension actuaries looking to understand the mechanics of how PRT is priced by life insurance actuaries, as well as life insurance actuaries who wish to understand how the stream of expected benefit payments and Accrued Benefits Obligation is calculated by Retirement Actuaries. Pension Risk Transfer involves two distinct disciplines of the actuarial profession. To date, understanding the other side of Pension Risk Transfer has been limited. This session will attempt to clarify the mechanics of the other side of PRT and explain how an actuarial model consolidating the two separate sides can be built. Panelists will include a retirement consulting actuary who helps retirement plan sponsors bring their pension plans to market to purchase PRT, as well as an experienced life insurer who works to price PRT.

Description: This interactive webcast uses case studies and a new framework to show how retirement plans and practices can be fitted to best serve organizations’ missions and objectives, guided by data and analytics measuring their workforce impact.

Description: As part of its ongoing effort to provide useful information on COVID-19, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) recently launched a series of reports exploring the impact of COVID-19 on retirement risks.This report is based on a follow-up conversation among actuaries from the SOA Retirement Section Council and the Retirement Section Defined Contribution Initiative Project Oversight Group. The actuaries that participated are currently working with plan sponsors of defined contribution plans in the United States and Canada. This report summarizes observations raised during the conversation about the current issues being discussed with clients to deal with immediate concerns as well as broader considerations about defined contribution plans, emergency funds and financial wellness.

Description: Explore the use of conjoint analysis to understand what employees say they want and/or need in a retirement plan in newly released research material sponsored by the SOA’s Retirement Section. Retirement plans of the past were defined as a benefit or a defined contribution in nature with their attendant features. As today’s hybrid plan designs consider features of the two historical archetypes, this research methodology identifies which features of a retirement program are most important to employees. This research, coming from the SOA’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research program, includes a tool for testing preferences for different combinations of features by different demographic groups (age, income, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.) By attending the webcast, you will be able to understand: What conjoint analysis is and how it works. Which features of retirement programs are most important to employees. How to use a tool to compare the importance of features for different demographic groups. How to use a tool to compare the level of acceptance of different retirement packages for various demographic groups. Come look at alternative plan designs (either inside or outside of what is possible today) to better understand how employees in different situations are likely to respond to the design combinations.

Description: Focusing on closed and open pools, hurdle rate policy, and delayed recognition of gains and losses, the report contributes to ongoing discussions and paves the way for informed decision-making in the implementation of lifetime pension pools.

Description: "Issues surrounding end-of-life and palliative care are not well understood and there is little research in the actuarial literature. From an actuarial perspective, however, end-of-life is important because of the significant cost to the healthcare system. Ian Duncan will discuss some of his research on the financial implications of end-of-life care, as well as the outcomes of a palliative care program. Dr. Matzo is an engaging personality with decades of experience in gerontology and palliative nursing, including training and teaching professionals in the field. Dr. Matzo focuses on educating the public on the importance and benefits of palliative care and hospice (care given in the final six months of life). In this session on “Palliative Care Public Education,” Dr. Matzo will give us an overview of the benefits of palliative care and how this knowledge empowers the individual to make important decisions about their healthcare options. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the role that the actuarial profession may play in this area."

Description: "Weighted compositional data analysis for modeling and forecasting life-table death counts – Han Lin Shang, Ph.D., Professor of Business Analytics and Director of Research at the Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, Steven Haberman, PhD, Bayes Business School, City University of London, UK Compensation Effect of Mortality as a Challenge to Life Extension – Natalia S. Gavrilova, Ph.D., Leonid A. Gavrilov, Ph.D. Academic Research Centers, NORC at the University of Chicago"

Description: The SOA Research Institute conducted an online survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents who are actively saving for both their retirement and a family member’s or friend’s college education. The results offer a better understanding of the challenges families face. Read the report for detailed findings or peruse the infographic for an overview.