Search the News Archive

Society of Actuaries Presents Multiple Papers on U.S. Healthcare System Reform Proposals

The series is entitled 'Visions for the Future of the U.S. Health Care System.' Excerpt: The invitation to submit essays went out to members of: the SOA Health Section, the SOA Long-Term Care Insurance Section, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance, the American Society of Health Economists and the American Society of Health Risk Managers.... Actuaries and related health professionals have an understanding of the complexities of the current health care system and the interrelated nature of the various segments. We need to bring this knowledge to health reform debates at the corporate, local, state and federal levels.

Society of Actuaries Research Brief: Impact of Coronavirus COVID-19 (PDF)

16 pages. "The result in February and March 2020 ha s been one where a confluence of risks has come together. Morbidity, mortality, asset/liability management and operational risks are all a part of the initial and evolving story. This Society of Actuaries Research Brief has been constructed to highlight some of the key features of the epidemic and contemplate the risks for the actuarial profession to consider in their work."

Society of Actuaries Responds to Concerns of Teachers Association Over Upcoming Study of Public Pension Plan Underfunding (PDF)

The linked item is a letter to the executive director of the National Council on Teacher Retirement. Excerpt: "The panel understands there are diverse views concerning public pension plan funding and is eager to learn from members of the public plan community. Two primary ways it is accomplishing this is through a 27-question survey taken by more than 170 actuaries, plan administrators, plan trustees, public officials, investment advisors, union officials, economists and academics. The panel is also meeting in person with 20 actuaries, trustees, plan administrators, union officials, representatives of public plan organizations, economists and investment advisors so that it is assured to receive a broad range of opinions and insights."

Retirement Literacy: A Series of Briefs from the Society of Actuaries

"The Society of Actuaries Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program and Financial Finesse are pleased to make available a series of briefs focused on retirement literacy issues.... [Retirement Health & Happiness] explores retirement from a holistic perspective looking at non-financial issues. ... [Retirement Planning from Start to Finish] looks at retirement planning and the things to consider throughout one’s career. [A Spending Plan for Retirement: Estimating Expenses] explores the types of expenses that may occur in the first year of retirement. [Retirement Planning Tools] provides a resource for better understanding retirement tools."

Society of Actuaries 2015 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey (PDF)

276 pages. "This report presents the results of an online survey of Americans ages 45 to 80 conducted ... 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."

Text of Society of Actuaries Survey Report Addressing Longevity Risks

Excerpt: The Society of Actuaries' recent Risks and Retirement Survey Report identifies and offers approaches to help employers and employees manage today's retirement risks. These risks include outliving one's assets, loss of spouse, decline in functional status and healthcare and medical expenses. In addition, the SOA is leading future retirement research by releasing a series of retirement survey reports.

Needs and Spending in Retirement - Papers from the 2007 Society of Actuaries Annual Meeting

On the target page, you may download a single PDF of all three papers: Spending Decisions in Retirement-What Choices Can People Make? Retirement Spending and Changing Needs during Retirement: Summary of Regression Analysis; and, A Decomposition of the Various Effects of Retirement on Consumption, or individual PDFs of each paper.

Society of Actuaries/Financial Fitness Dynamic Retirement Planning Calculator: Pros and Cons

"The Society of Actuaries (SOA) recently released a retirement planning guide for older retirees entitled, 'Late-in-Life Decisions Guide.' ... [The Financial Fitness calculator (FFC)] could be a better financial planning tool than the 4% Rule ... However, some of the potential shortfalls of the FFC are significant and include: [1] No guidance on reasonable assumptions.... [2] Expenses and income in retirement are generally not linear as assumed by the FFC."

Society of Actuaries Research Brief: Impact of COVID-19 on Health Insurers, Retirement Plans and More (PDF)

78 pages; updated May 1, 2020. "A confluence of risks has come together. Operational and financial risks have emerged, compounding the current situation. Actuaries will be watching for any additional risk events that layer on to the current environment, especially ones that may cause additional property, mortality and health risks such as catastrophic weather events."

New Mortality Table Recommended by Society of Actuaries

"The most significant piece of [Exposure Draft RP-2014] is the new set of generational mortality tables. These tables reflect significant improvement in mortality relative to the rates in the current regulatory framework (RP-2000 plus Mortality Improvement Scale AA). To put that in English: the conclusion of the [Society of Actuaries] is that the current rules significantly understate how long DB plan participants will live because they do not reflect changes (improvements) in life expectancy that have happened since Scale AA was published."