The Pension Research Council sponsors research conferences on topics of timely interest to members. Topics span the range of private and public retirement programs around the world. Themes are suggested by the Advisory Board, and members have the opportunity to explore the social, economic, legal, actuarial, and financial implications of research developments for retirement security.
About the Council The Pension Research Council of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is committed to generating debate on key policy issues affecting pensions and other employee benefits.
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. The conference is by invitation only.
The May 2-3, 2024, symposium at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania explores and evaluates lessons from behavioral finance and economics regarding retirement saving, investment, decumulation, and institutional frameworks conducive to retirement security. One discussion focuses on the factors helping and hindering retirement saving behavior, including noncognitive factors as well as mortality beliefs. Then we turn to new lessons from retirement savers’ investment patterns, including gender differences, financial literacy, and retirement plan design. Next we explore consumption and spending patterns in retirement, along with cognitive decline and healthcare costs. The overview touches on how plan sponsors and policymakers can apply insights from behavioral finance to retirement policy. Keynote speakers Peter Fisher, BlackRock, and Annamaria Lusardi, Stanford, will offer their learnings about trust and retirement, as well as financial wellbeing in later life. The conference is by invitation only.
The 2023 Pension Research Council Symposium on Diversity, Inclusion, and Inequality: Implications for Retirement Income Security and Policy explored the determinants and dynamics of inequality in retirement income outcomes with an emphasis on inequality by race and ethnicity. Researchers examined the role of housing wealth, pensions, and Social Security in reducing inequality. In addition, experts evaluated inequality-mitigating effects of old-age public and private retirement saving programs policies. Although there has been a great deal of public emphasis on top 1% and 0.1% of wealth inequality, the conference aimed to consider inequality for more representative people, excluding the highest wealth shares. Our March 30-31, 2023 Wharton conference was by invitation only.
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