Restructuring Retirement Risks
Published on 3. August 2006
Book
Hardback
270 pages
978-0-19-920465-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book posits that retirement security is the central policy concern of our time. A generation of 'Baby Boomers' is on the verge of retirement, yet pension systems confront crushing challenges, and governments often appear confused about which direction they should move in.
Contributors to this volume clarify the discussion by addressing the question: 'What are the new risks and rewards in pensions, and what paths can stakeholders chose to solve these problems?'. The chapters set their sights on employees' needs and expectations, employers' intentions and realizations, and policymakers' efforts to resolve the many challenges. Despite the fact that retirement systems face deep stresses exacerbated by volatile capital markets, poor corporate earning streams, weak macroeconomic performance, and international turmoil, nevertheless, contributors in this volume show courage and creativity in plotting the course over uneven terrain.
In the book, three aspects of the evolution of risk and reward-sharing in retirement are evaluated, to offer guidance to pension fiduciaries, plan participants, and policymakers. First, it formulates new perspectives for assessing retirement risks and rewards. Second, it evaluates efforts to insure retirement plans. Third, it proposes several new strategies for managing retirement system risk. The volume represents an invaluable addition to the Pension Research Council/Oxford University Press series. It will be especially useful for managers working toward more efficient pension plans; to scholars and policymakers seeking to maximize pension design effectiveness; and to actuaries and tax specialists concerned with pension regulation.
The Pension Research Council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was founded 50 years ago to encourage research and teaching on pensions and retirement security. Council projects address the long-term issues that underlie contemporary concerns and seek to broaden public understanding of these complex arrangements through research into their social, economic, legal, actuarial, and financial foundations of privately and publicly-provided benefits.
Contributors to this volume clarify the discussion by addressing the question: 'What are the new risks and rewards in pensions, and what paths can stakeholders chose to solve these problems?'. The chapters set their sights on employees' needs and expectations, employers' intentions and realizations, and policymakers' efforts to resolve the many challenges. Despite the fact that retirement systems face deep stresses exacerbated by volatile capital markets, poor corporate earning streams, weak macroeconomic performance, and international turmoil, nevertheless, contributors in this volume show courage and creativity in plotting the course over uneven terrain.
In the book, three aspects of the evolution of risk and reward-sharing in retirement are evaluated, to offer guidance to pension fiduciaries, plan participants, and policymakers. First, it formulates new perspectives for assessing retirement risks and rewards. Second, it evaluates efforts to insure retirement plans. Third, it proposes several new strategies for managing retirement system risk. The volume represents an invaluable addition to the Pension Research Council/Oxford University Press series. It will be especially useful for managers working toward more efficient pension plans; to scholars and policymakers seeking to maximize pension design effectiveness; and to actuaries and tax specialists concerned with pension regulation.
The Pension Research Council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was founded 50 years ago to encourage research and teaching on pensions and retirement security. Council projects address the long-term issues that underlie contemporary concerns and seek to broaden public understanding of these complex arrangements through research into their social, economic, legal, actuarial, and financial foundations of privately and publicly-provided benefits.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Numerous tables and figures
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
573 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-920465-6 (9780199204656)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
David Blitzstein is the Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Negotiated Benefits Department where he advises local unions in collective bargaining on pension and health insurance issues and consults with the Union's 150 jointly trusted health and welfare and pension plans nationwide. Mr. Blitzstein also serves as trustee of the UFCW Industry Pension Fund, and the UFCW National Health and Welfare Fund. Mr. Blitzstein represents the UFCW as a member of the working committee of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans. In addition he serves on the Pension Research Council Advisory Board at the Wharton School; he is a member of the Employee Benefits Research Institute and the National Academy of Social Insurance. He received the BS degree from the University of Pennsylvania and he received the MS in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
Olivia S. Mitchell is Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania , and the Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research at the Wharton School. Concurrently Dr. Mitchell is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Co Investigator for the AHEAD/ Health and Retirement Studies at the University of Michigan. Dr. Mitchell's main areas of research and teaching are private and public insurance, risk management, public finance and labor markets, and compensation and pensions, with a US and an international focus. She received the BA in Economics from Harvard University and the MA and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Stephen P. Utkus is the Director of the Vanguard Center for Retirement Research, where he conducts and sponsors research on retirement savings and retirement benefits. His current research examines attitudes and expectations regarding retirement, financial markets and employer-sponsored retirement plans; the psychological and behavioral aspects of participant decision-making; trading and investment behavior among retirement plan participants; fiduciary issues arising from retirement programs; and global trends in public and private pension plans. Mr. Utkus serves on the Pension Research Council Advisory Board and he is also a Visiting Scholar at the Wharton School. He received the BS in Computer Science from MIT and the M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School.
Olivia S. Mitchell is Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania , and the Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research at the Wharton School. Concurrently Dr. Mitchell is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Co Investigator for the AHEAD/ Health and Retirement Studies at the University of Michigan. Dr. Mitchell's main areas of research and teaching are private and public insurance, risk management, public finance and labor markets, and compensation and pensions, with a US and an international focus. She received the BA in Economics from Harvard University and the MA and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Stephen P. Utkus is the Director of the Vanguard Center for Retirement Research, where he conducts and sponsors research on retirement savings and retirement benefits. His current research examines attitudes and expectations regarding retirement, financial markets and employer-sponsored retirement plans; the psychological and behavioral aspects of participant decision-making; trading and investment behavior among retirement plan participants; fiduciary issues arising from retirement programs; and global trends in public and private pension plans. Mr. Utkus serves on the Pension Research Council Advisory Board and he is also a Visiting Scholar at the Wharton School. He received the BS in Computer Science from MIT and the M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School.
Editor
Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Negotiated Benefits Department
, Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School, University of PennsylvaniaExecutive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Director of the Vanguard Center for Retirement Research
Content
PART I. PERSPECTIVES ON PENSION RISKS AND REWARDS ; Understanding the Uncertainties of Retirement ; Who Bears What Risk? An Intergenerational Perspective ; he Role of 401(k) Accumulations in Future Retirement Income ; Changing Risks Confronting Pension Participants ; PART II. POOLING PENSION RISKS AND REWARDS ; A Regulatory Framework for Strengthening Defined Benefit Pensions ; The Influence of PBGC Insurance on Pension Fund Finances ; The UK Approach to Insuring Defined Benefit Pension Plans ; Risk-Sharing in Retiree Medical Benefits ; PART III. NEW STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING RETIREMENT RISK ; Restructuring the Defined Benefit Pension ; Dimensions of 401(k) Plan Design ; Understanding and Allocating Investment Risks in a Hybrid Pension Plan ; Market Innovations to Better Allocate Generational Risk