January—A Big Month for Retirement Planning Issues

by Joe Tomlinson, Tomlinson Financial Planning LLC

The year starts on a busy note for the Society of Actuaries Committee on Retirement Needs and Risks with the launch of a major initiative, which involves the production of 11 Decision Briefs on important decisions that individuals need to make around the time of retirement.

Each of the briefs deals with a specific decision area and offers key considerations to help individuals plan for retirement. As Anna Rappaport, who chairs the CRPNR, notes, “The time around retirement is particularly challenging, not only because of the life changes, but also because of the number of decisions that must be dealt with.” The committee felt that it could provide useful information for both individuals contemplating retirement, and for professionals, like accountants, lawyers, and investment advisors, who work with such individuals. Anna adds, “We recognized that individual decisions depend on unique personal characteristics, but we felt that we could offer useful general information.”

To produce the Decision Briefs, the committee utilized a workgroup consisting of actuaries and other professionals. Included in the workgroup were members who were close to retirement age themselves, who could bring both personal and professional insights to the project.

The briefs are focused on the issues facing average Americans and they do not deal specifically with issues that are only important to high-income individuals. All 11 Decision Briefs are available on the SOA website. These are the topics covered by the briefs:

• Big Question: When Should I Retire?
• When Retirement Comes Too Soon
• Women Take the Wheel: Destination Retirement
• Deciding When to Claim Social Security
• Designing a Monthly Paycheck for Retirement
• Treating Asset Allocation Like a Roadmap
• Securing Health Insurance for the Retirement Journey
• Taking the Long-Term Care Journey
• Where to Live in Retirement
• Estate Planning: Preparing for End of Life
• Finding Trustworthy Financial Advice for Retirement and Avoiding Pitfalls

The Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks hopes that both individuals contemplating retirement and professionals they work with will be able to make good use of these Decision Briefs. They also hope that more members of the public will become familiar with Committee and its continuing work on a variety of projects related to retirement issues.