Description: This article addresses studies which came to different conclusions regarding whether 401k plans are financially advantageous. Also presented is a paper, using more elaborate assumptions, which analyzes the effects of 401 k participation at various income levels.

Description: Planning for retirement in North America has become much more challenging as the defined benefit system has declined. We must take more responsibility for ourselves. As we plan, many societal forces affect us. Both men and women are disadvantaged because Americans in particular are not very good savers. While pension plans and Social Security, or CPP/QPP/OAS in Canada, generally use the same formulas for men and women, often the results are different. This article focuses on the challenges women face in retirement.

Description: This essay focuses on elements of success in a system linked to employment.

Description: Article suggests future steps with regard to this project and provides information on where to get the essays.

Description: This paper explores a proposed compulsory savings program combined with transparent investment vehicles designed to promote competition based on expense levels, fund performance and customer service. At retirement 50% of the account is annuitized in Participating Variable Annuity (PVA) backed by TIPS. All investment experience, expenses, and pooled longevity experience is passed to annuitants through periodic benefit adjustments. Annuities are priced uniformly based on age at commencement.

Description: Provides perspective on how risk has been shared in a variety of retirement and insurance arrangements, and suggestions some ideas for innovations and different risk sharing in the future. Traditional retirement program are defined benefit and defined contribution, which have very different methods of risk sharing. The new ideas share risk differently. Offers some history of retirement and risk sharing. Goal is to improve retirement security.

Description: Provides an overview of several EBRI studies on spending by older Americans and brings together with Society of Actuaries research on shocks in retirement.

Description: Column that provides an overview of section activities

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.