This paper contains nine different essays on Social Security reform and multi-pillar pension plans. The nine topics are: 1. Transition costs2. Progressive indexation3. Government guarantees on private accounts4. Life cycle investing5. Impact of add-on accounts on Social Security solvency6....

This paper assesses the impact of different quantitative approaches to regulate investment risk on the retirement income stemming from defined contribution (DC) pension plans. It looks at how such regulations affect the spectrum of investment policies available and, through this channel, how...

We examine the presence of short-termism in the asset allocation decisions of U.S. private defined benefit pension plans. We document an inverse U-shaped relationship between a plan's allocation to fixed income securities and its funding ratio, centered on a 80% funding ratio, and show that the...

This study examined the profit-share pension model as a potential vehicle for generating capital accumulation and effecting a progressive redistribution of wealth. Taking the functions of the pension mechanism as the guiding principle, we attempted to incorporate a profit-share fund into a three...

In this paper we consider three types of embedded options in pension benefit design.The first is the Florida second election (FSE) option, which has been offered to public employees in the state of Florida since 2002. The state runs both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension...

Several proposals have surfaced recently that government develop and offer some sort of voluntary pension plan (VPP). This paper examines areas of public policy on pensions where changes should take place with or without the development of a VPP, including those that promote greater...

This paper considers a world in which pension funds may default, the cost of the associated risk of default is not borne fully by the sponsoring corporation, and there are differential tax effects. The focus is on ways in which the wealth of the shareholders of a corporation sponsoring a pension...

This paper examines the allocation of market risk in a general class of collective pension arrangements: Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes. In a CDC scheme participants collectively share funding risk through benefit level adjustments. There is a concern that, if not well designed,...

We argue that we should see a negative relationship between the share of risky assets in the default fund of a defined contribution (DC) pension plan and the average plan member age if trustees design the default fund in line with predictions from the life-cycle portfolio choice theory. Adoption...

This paper examines the effect of objective function structures on the optimal management decisions (in particular, asset allocation and surplus/deficit spread period) for a model defined benefit superannuation scheme. The objectives of employer-sponsors, members and trustees are identified,...