COMMITTEE NEWS

April 2017

Population Issues Working Group
Assia Billing, Chairperson

The International Actuarial Association and the Actuaries Institute Australia have collaborated to produce a video overview of the IAA Paper “Determination of Retirement and Eligibility Ages: Actuarial, Social and Economic Impacts”.

There is considerable variation in eligibility ages for social security and private sector retirement benefits around the world, as well as different approaches to provide incentives (or disincentives) for early or late retirement. Factors that underlie decisions regarding these ages and alternative approaches include sustainability and affordability of these programs, adequacy and equity of benefits, and economic and political policy.

Increases in longevity and decreases in fertility have led to the aging of populations and increases in the old-age dependency ratio in many countries. At the same time, many investment markets have achieved disappointing returns in the current low interest rate environments. These factors are putting financial pressure on social security programs, government budgets and employer sponsored pension plans. One way to reduce this financial pressure is to increase the eligibility age for retirement.

The IAA paper examines the actuarial, social and economic impacts of raising the eligibility age for retirement benefits and describes the experience of several countries in doing so. It discusses the resulting effects on individuals (both healthy and unhealthy), socio-economic subgroups, employer sponsored plans, social security programs, and the labour market.

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