Modernizing the U.S. Retirement System—Aligning Policy With Reality
Modernizing the U.S. Retirement System—Aligning Policy With Reality
National Press Club
July 27, 2018 | 8:30 a.m. to Noon EDT
Presentation Slides
The American Academy of Actuaries hosted a focused discussion of U.S. retirement policy at the National Press Club on Friday, July 27. This invitation-only event engaged participants on issues facing our nation's retirement system, and explored how public policy can secure our future.
Over the past few decades, the U.S. retirement system has been buffeted by sweeping foundational change: a period of unprecedented variability in the economic environment, trending longer lifespans and lower fertility rates, and a fundamental shift in how employers provide for their employees’ retirement needs. Yet our nation’s public policies have not evolved to keep up with these vast changes. The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report in October 2017 calling for a national retirement commission; subsequent legislative proposals have provided specifics about how such a commission would work.
But where do we go from here?
Actuaries have tremendous expertise in the design and funding of retirement programs, with experience across the entire spectrum of plans—public and private, single- and multiemployer—that gives us a unique vantage point on the retirement challenge. Our actuarial and retirement policy experts will discuss how we might provide retirement security in today’s vibrant, adaptive system that can meet our needs now and into the future.
Opening Remarks
- Stephen C. Goss, MAAA, ASA, Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration
- Mark Iwry, nonresident senior fellow in economic studies, Brookings Institution, former senior advisor to the secretary of the Treasury and deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy
- Steve Vernon, MAAA, FSA, a research scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity and author on retirement planning
- Ted Goldman, MAAA, FSA, FCA, American Academy of Actuaries senior pension fellow
- Lori Lucas, CFA, President and CEO, Employee Benefit Research Institute
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