2025 Symposium:

The Future of Healthy Aging
and Successful Retirement

May 1-2, 2025

Join leading experts at the 2025 “Health, Wealth, and Aging” conference, where the complex interplay between longevity, cognitive function, and financial wellbeing in later life takes center stage. The event features thought-provoking talks from world-renowned researchers like David McCarthy on global longevity prospects and Norma Coe on the impact of retirement on cognitive health. Sessions explore urgent issues like financial decision-making during cognitive decline, AI’s role in the future workforce, and the growing inequality among aging populations. With insights on innovative financial planning tools and policies for healthy aging, this conference promises to ignite meaningful discussions on the future of aging, work, and wealth.

Our symposium is by invitation only and limited to members. Click here for more information about membership.

Conference Agenda

Conference speakers’ bios coming soon.

Welcome and Overview: Surya Kolluri, TIAA Institute
Opening Remarks: Amal Abou Rafeh, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs: “Midway through the Decade of Healthy Aging”

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Session I: Setting the Scene: Health, Wealth, and Aging
• David McCarthy, University of Georgia: “Prospects for Longevity in an Aging World”
• Steve Utkus and Olivia S. Mitchell, Pension Research Council/Wharton: “Understanding Lifespans and Healthspans”

Session II: The Aging Brain and Financial Wellbeing in Later Life
• Michael Haliassos, Norma Coe, University of Pennsylvania: “Retirement and Cognitive Function in Later Life”
Jinkook Lee, University of Southern California: “Financial Decisionmaking, Debt, and Cognitive Decline in Later Life”

Keynote: “Investing in Our Future Selves: Policy Perspectives”
Speaker: Andrew Scott, London Business School

Session III: Closing the Working Age, Health, and Wealth Gaps
• Anita Mukherjee, University of Wisconsin: “Inequities in How Wealth Shapes Healthy and Workfree Later Life”
• Sita Slavov, George Mason University: “Does Retirement Drive Health or Health Drive Retirement?”
• Gary Burtless, Brookings Institute: “Addressing Inequality in the Older Population”

Evening Dinner and Keynote: “Global Aging and Growth: Is there a Silver Dividend?”
Speaker: Kwanho Shin, Korea University, with Donghyun Park, Asian Development Bank.

Friday, May 2, 2025

Session IV: Financial Innovations for Managing Healthcare Costs and Finances
• Raimond Maurer and Vanya Horneff, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Olivia S. Mitchell, Wharton: “Default Annuities in DC Plans”
• Sarah Holden, Investment Company Institute: “Older Households’ Goals and Resources Throughout Retirement”

• Marina Mendes Tavares, International Monetary Fund: “AI and the Future of Work in Aging World”
• Sudipto Banerjee, T. Rowe Price: “Forecasting and Saving for Retiree Healthcare Costs”
• Surya Kolluri and Andrew Gellert , TIAA Institute: “Longevity, Financial Planning, and Family Caregiving”

Session IV: Roundtable: Policy Perspectives on Healthy Aging and Successful Retirement
• Laura Carstensen, Stanford: “Research Perspectives on the Decade of Healthy Aging”
• Debra Whitman, AARP: “Policy Perspectives on the Decade of Healthy Aging”

Closing remarks: Olivia S. Mitchell, The Wharton School