Description: The widening gap in life span between high- and low-income Americans may be eroding the progressivity of Social Security retirement benefits. Differential longevity trends have had the effect of raising lifetime benefits for high earners but not for low earners. Social Security’s long-term financial problems result in part from an increase in average life expectancy driven by wealthier people living longer, and, thereby, collecting more benefits. Policymakers should not use funding shortfalls attributable to these trends as an excuse to cut monthly benefits alike for those who have gained (high earners) and for those who haven’t (low earners).

Description: Discover an introduction to decomposing differences in life expectancy by age and cause of death. Take a look into demographic techniques that decompose life expectancies at birth and older ages into the portions contributed by later age groups and causes of death-. These have been in existence for some time and provide a convenient device for analyzing mortality change over time as well as differences between sexes, countries, and ethnic groups. The methods will be described and illustrated by spreadsheet examples.

Description: "Population Aging, Global Climate Change and Social Security – Sally Shen, Research Associate, Global Risk Institute, John A. Turner, Ph.D., Director, Pension PolicyClimate Change and Mortality Time for Actuaries to Pay Attention – Sam Gutterman. FSA, CERA, FCAS, FCA, HONFIA, MAAA"

Description: Recently, the SCAN Foundation, AARP, LeadingAge, and HHS funded economic modeling conducted by Milliman and the Urban Institute around LTC reform elements. The LTC industry has over the years also generated ideas to address the on-coming expansion of LTC needs in the U.S. For this article, we have brought together three individuals who have long involvement with LTC financing to discuss some of the recent ideas and provide some perspectives on their pluses and minuses.

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: "Informal caregiving is far more costly than many people realize. And not just in the immediate future. Current demographic trends suggest that caregiving will become even more necessary and costly as the Baby Boomers continue to age and require more support and services. In 2022, the SOA engaged Milliman, Inc. to conduct an analysis of the need for informal caregiving and its impacts on employees, employers, and other stakeholders. The purpose of this research was to educate stakeholders, policymakers, and other interested parties on the realm of informal caregiving, as well as how the challenges associated with providing informal care of all kinds might be addressed. Discover key findings and themes from the research project, as well as stories highlighting the various forms this role can take, and solutions currently being developed around the country. An open discussion on ways our profession can impact this growing need with the work we do every day in our respective roles will also be included."

Description: Investigate the concept of value annuities and the potential cost-effective differences when compared to traditional annuities by attending this webcast. Value annuities are an alternative lifetime income solution where longevity and investment risks are born by a pool of annuitants rather than a centralized insurer. Join this webcast for a closer look at the practicalities of designing and administering a value pool. There will also be a focus on the legislative, regulator and supervisory implications.

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: The document is a report prepared by the Society of Actuaries in 2012, focusing on surveys conducted in Canada and the United States regarding retirement risks. It compares the findings of the two countries, covering concerns, strategies, and perceptions related to retirement planning and financial security.

Description: "On the decomposition of mortality models into causes of death – Andrés M Villegas Ph.D – UNSW Australia, Madhavi Bajekal, Ph.D.,HONFIA, University of London, UK, Steven Haberman, Ph.D. – Bayes Business School, University of London, UK Forecasting cause-specific mortality rates using the insights from the cointegration analysis, Séverine Arnold, PhD, Viktoriya Glushko, Department of Actuarial Science, Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC Lausanne), University of Lausanne, Switzerland"