articles 1 to 10 of 55
Saving Social Security: Why New Proposals Are Drawing Fire
On April 10, President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which included a controversial plan to change how Social Security benefits are calculated. Rather than using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security, the President proposed switching to "chained CPI," which would take into account the possibility that when prices rise for certain goods and services, consumers buy cheaper products instead. Experts from Wharton and elsewhere weigh in on what this change -- and others -- could mean for retirees and the Social Security system.
From: April 24, 2013
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Accepting Uncertainty, Embracing Volatility
The defining characteristic of future change, according to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is that it is impossible -- and foolhardy -- to try to predict it. Nonetheless, the dominant impulse among policymakers and so-called experts is to attempt to reduce volatility rather than deal with it more productively. In his new book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, Taleb argues that in order for individuals, institutions, industries and societies to not only survive but also thrive, it is essential to make peace with uncertainty.
From: December 17, 2012
Live Long and Prosper? Not If You Are Counting on a Healthy Pension Plan
Everyone knows that pension plans, both public and private, are in trouble -- not on life support yet, but definitely facing a host of difficulties, including a poor economy and changing demographics. To shed light on the situation, Wharton's Pension Research Council recently asked two top pension-protection officials to discuss conditions in the United States and the United Kingdom. The forum was titled, "Saving Pensions: What Can the U.S. and U.K. Learn from Each Other?"
From: August 29, 2012
An End to the 'Golden Years': Increasing Longevity Changes the Work-leisure Equation
People are working longer and retirement ages are rising everywhere as aging populations, broken nest eggs and distressed pension funds make staying in the workforce a growing necessity. The baby boomers' desire to remain active and engaged further blurs the distinction between work and retirement -- a sharp reversal from attitudes that held sway during much of the 20th century, when retirement was seen as the ticket to an endless weekend.
From: December 06, 2010
Broken Promises: Can the World's Stressed-out Pension Plans Be Rescued?
From Chicago to the Champs-Elysees, distressed retirement plans are coming under fire as they struggle to keep pace with projected payouts. Responses range from raising national retirement ages to whacking corporate profits to meet funding requirements. With state and local plans facing the widest gaps, some policy makers are taking increasingly risky steps to keep the funds solvent. According to some experts, resolving these pension-plan woes will take years of hard work.
From: December 06, 2010
Needed, Now: New Approaches to Financing Old Age
Following the global financial crisis, troubled retirement systems around the world face new challenges that may result in sharply reduced income for retirees -- as well as the possibility that younger workers will need to work much longer, according to Wharton insurance and risk management professor Olivia Mitchell. In a recent paper titled, "Implications of the Financial Crisis for Long Run Retirement Security," Mitchell argues that current and future generations must "build new frameworks [with] public and private partnerships to better educate people about the risks they face, to help them work longer ... and to better regulate products and markets for an aging world."
From: May 26, 2010
Micro Insurance: A Safety Net With Too Many Holes?
Unlike micro lending -- the better-known side of micro finance -- micro insurance has been a hard sell among the world's poor. The reasons why include a lack of understanding of how insurance products work, a general reticence on the part of poor populations to part with their meager financial resources, badly designed products and a shortage of localized risk management knowledge among providers. What needs to happen for micro insurance to prove that it can be both socially beneficial and economically viable?
From: September 30, 2009
Not So Golden: Employees -- and Employers -- Feel the Pinch from Shortfalls in Retirement Funding
The golden years for most Americans appear increasingly threatened by the global financial crisis. Retirement accounts have lost from $2 trillion to $4 trillion as stocks have tumbled nearly 50% from their peak in 2007. Pension funds -- which typically invest between 60% and 70% in equities -- are also finding their accounts billions of dollars below minimum requirements. For Americans facing retirement, the details of how these plans work may be fuzzy, but the big picture is clear: Whatever comfortable cushion retirees may have had is now gone, and the process of building it back up will be arduous and long.
From: April 01, 2009
AIG Rescued: Was an $85 Billion Loan the Right Answer?
After refusing to bail out Lehman Brothers, the government agreed to an $85 billion loan to insurance giant AIG, effectively taking over the company. Knowledge@Wharton talked to Wharton insurance professors Olivia Mitchell and Kent Smetters to find out how the world's largest insurer got into this situation and how it can be prevented from happening again.
From: September 17, 2008
You've Worked Hard, Saved and Just Retired: How Do You Manage Your Finances Now?
As baby boomers retire and start spending their nest eggs, they will need new financial products to make their money last, according to speakers at a recent Wharton Impact Conference titled, "Managing Retirement Payouts: Positioning, Investing and Spending Assets." The conference explored emerging patterns in spending during retirement and debated new ideas to help retirees manage their finances after leaving the workforce.
From: June 13, 2007
