April 23-24, 2007
About the Conference
This event highlighted emerging issues regarding assets and expectations on the verge of retirement, including uncertainty regarding life expectancy and morbidity. Analysts explored retirement asset positioning and location, phasing of spending patterns, and debt as well as housing consumption in later life. Financial advisers and academics debated ways to effectively manage assets in retirement, including the role of advice engines and tax challenges. Lawyers and policy experts evaluated regulation for the retirement payout marketplace, along with long-term care insurance.
This conference was a Wharton Impact Conference sponsored by the Wharton School’s Pension Research Council and Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research.
The conference was co-hosted by John Ameriks and Olivia Mitchell at The Wharton School.
Conference Agenda
Monday April 23, 2007
Session I: Setting the Stage
- Sewin Chan, New York University; Ann Huff Stevens, UC Davis: “Is Retirement Being Remade? Developments in Labor Market Patterns at Older Ages” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
- Erik Hurst, University of Chicago: “Consumption in Retirement: Recent Developments” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
- Todd Sinai and Nicholas Souleles, Wharton School: “Net Worth and Housing Equity in Retirement” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
Session II: Retirement Distributions
- John Ameriks, Vanguard, and Andrew Caplin, Steven Laufer, and Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, NYU: “Understanding and Enhancing Retirement Security” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
- G. Victor Hallman, Wharton School: “Retirement Distributions and the Bequest Motive” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
- Phyllis Borzi, George Washington University; Martha Priddy-Patterson, Deloitte: “Regulating Markets for Retirement Payouts: Solvency, Supervision, and Credibility” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
Luncheon Speaker : Harold Evensky, Evensky & Katz
Session III: Retirement Risk Management
- Moshe Milevsky and Vladyslav Kyrychenko, York University: “Does a Variable Annuity Come with a License to Take on More Investment Risk? Some Theoretical, Empirical, and Anecdotal Observations” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
- Jeff Brown and Marcus Casey, University of Illinois; Olivia S. Mitchell, The Wharton School: “Who Values the Annuity from Social Security? New Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study” (presentation slides available here)
- David Brazell and Jason Brown, U.S. Dept of Treasury; Mark Warshawsky, Watson Wyatt: “Combination of Life Annuities and Long-term Care Insurance: Tax Issues” (presentation slides available here, paper available here)
Tuesday April 24, 2007
Session IV: Financial Products for the Payout Phase
- James I. Mahaney and Peter C. Carlson, Prudential Financial: “New Approaches to Retirement Income Phasing ”
(presentation slides available here, paper available here) - Sarah Holden and Brian Reid, ICI: “Managing the IRA In Retirement”
(presentation slides available here, paper available here) - William Sharpe, Stanford University; Jason S. Scott, and John G. Watson, Financial Engines: “Efficient Retirement Strategies”
(presentation slides available here, paper available here)
Session V: Roundtable: Lessons for Managing Retirement Payouts
Francois Gadenne, Retirement Engineering, Inc.; Kelli Hueler, Hueler Associates; Joe Piacentini, EBSA/DOL