Modern tontine with bequest: Innovation in pooled annuity products

We introduce a new pension product that offers retirees the opportunity for a lifelong income and a bequest for their estate. Based on a tontine mechanism, the product divides pension savings between a tontine account and a bequest account. The tontine account is given up to a tontine pool upon death while the bequest account value is paid to the retiree’s estate. The values of these two accounts are continuously re-balanced to the same proportion, which is the key feature of our new product.Our main research question about the new product is what proportion of pension savings should a retiree allocate to the tontine account. Under a power utility function, we show that more risk averse retirees allocate a fairly stable proportion of their pension savings to the tontine account, regardless of the strength of their bequest motive. The proportion declines as the retiree becomes less risk averse for a while. However, for the least risk averse retirees, a high proportion of their pension savings is optimally allocated to the tontine account. This surprising result is explained by the least risk averse retirees seeking the potentially high value of the bequest account at very old ages.     

On “optimal pension management in a stochastic framework” with exponential utility

This paper reconsiders the optimal asset allocation problem in a stochastic framework for defined-contribution pension plans with exponential utility, which has been investigated by Battocchio and Menoncin [Battocchio, P., Menoncin, F., 2004. Optimal pension management in a stochastic framework. Insurance: Math. Econ. 34, 79-95]. When there are three types of asset, cash, bond and stock, and a non-hedgeable wage risk, the optimal pension portfolio composition is horizon dependent for pension plan members whose terminal utility is an exponential function of real wealth (nominal wealth-to-price index ratio). With market parameters usually assumed, wealth invested in bond and stock increases as retirement approaches, and wealth invested in cash asset decreases. The present study also shows that there are errors in the formulation of the wealth process and control variables in solving the optimization problem in the study of Battocchio and Menoncin, which render their solution erroneous and lead to wrong results in their numerical simulation.     

How to Spend and Invest Retirement Savings

The question of post-retirement optimal consumption and investment of retirement savings is addressed. This problem has received considerably less attention than that of how to invest for retirement. With the increase in life span and an increase in private pension funds, a retiree has considerable flexibility in both how to consume and how to continue to invest their retirement funds. Our interest is in developing a platform that allows a wide variety of behavioural aspects to be modeled and also enables explicit constraints to be imposed. To enable the flexibility we seek it is necessary to model the problem as a large-scale nonlinearly constrained optimization problem, which is solved using a sequential quadratic programming algorithm. Fortunately, modern optimization methods are now sufficiently powerful as to enable solving such problems. A key point is that, though the problems are large, they have a rich structure. Problems in this class have been addressed assuming that an investor is rational in the sense that when making financial decisions the preference relation of the investor satisfies all the axioms of choice. Research in behavioural science indicates that not all financial decisions of an average person satisfy the axioms of choice. The algorithm we propose enables the problem to be solved for a user-specified utility function that does not satisfy all the axioms of choice.     

Urban public pension, replacement rates and population growth rate in China

This paper uses an overlapping generations model to investigate the urban public pension in China. It examines the effects of the replacement rates and population growth rate on the capital–labor ratio, pension benefits, consumption and utility, and finds the optimal replacement rate. It is shown that raising the individual account benefit replacement rate only induces the increase in the individual account benefits. Raising the social pool benefit replacement rate induces the increase in the social pool benefits and retirement-period consumption, while the decrease in the capital–labor ratio, individual account benefits, working-period consumption and utility. The fall in the population growth rate leads to the increase in the capital–labor ratio, social pool benefits, individual account benefits, working-period consumption and utility, and leads to a decrease in the retirement-period consumption. The optimal social pool benefit replacement rate depends on the individual discount factor, social discount factor, capital share of income and population growth rate, and it decreases in the case of falling population growth rates. It will do more good than harm to raise the individual account benefit replacement rate, reduce the social pool benefit replacement rate and strictly implement China’s population policy.     

On the sub-optimality cost of immediate annuitization in DC pension funds

We consider the position of a member of a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme having the possibility of taking programmed withdrawals at retirement. According to this option, she can defer annuitization of her fund to a propitious future time, that can be found to be optimal according to some criteria. This option, that adds remarkable flexibility in the choice of pension benefits, is not available in many countries, where immediate annuitization is compulsory at retirement. In this paper, we address and try to answer the questions: “Is immediate annuitization optimal? If it is not, what is the cost to be paid by the retiree obliged to annuitize at retirement?”. In order to do this, we consider the model by Gerrard et?al. in Quant Finance, (2011) and extend it in two different ways. In the first extension, we prove a theorem that provides necessary and sufficient conditions for immediate annuitization being always optimal. The not surprising result is that compulsory immediate annuitization turns out to be sub-optimal. We then quantify the extent of sub-optimality, by defining the sub-optimality cost as the loss of expected present value of consumption from retirement to death and measuring it in many typical situations. We find that it varies in relative terms between 6 and 40%, depending on the risk aversion of the member. In the second extension, we make extensive numerical investigations of the model and seek the optimal annuitization time. We find that the optimal annuitization time depends on personal factors such as the retiree’s risk aversion and her subjective perception of remaining lifetime. It also depends on the financial market, via the Sharpe ratio of the risky asset. Optimal annuitization should occur a few years after retirement with high risk aversion, low Sharpe ratio and/or short remaining lifetime, and many years after retirement with low risk aversion, high Sharpe ratio and/or long remaining lifetime. This paper supports the availability of programmed withdrawals as an option to retirees of DC pension schemes, by giving insight into the extent of loss in wealth suffered by a retiree who cannot choose programmed withdrawals, but is obliged to annuitize immediately on retirement.     

Longevity risk in pension annuities with exchange options: The effect of product design

We consider defined benefit pension plans that, at retirement age, allow the participant to choose between a single life annuity and a joint and survivor annuity. We compare two plans that differ in terms of how pension rights are accrued. In one plan, the participant accrues the right to receive a single life annuity, and can exchange that annuity for an actuarially equivalent joint and survivor annuity at retirement date. The opposite holds in the other plan. We show that both plans are affected by longevity risk in two ways. First, the participants’ choices at retirement age affect the ratio of survivor benefits over single life benefits, and, therefore, affect the natural hedge potential that arises from combining single life and survivor annuities. Second, uncertainty in the rate at which the participant will be allowed to exchange one type of annuity for the other at retirement date induces uncertainty in the level of the nominal rights for single life and survivor annuities, respectively. We compare the two plans, and show that longevity risk is substantially lower in case rights are accrued in the form of a joint and survivor annuity.     

Three retirement decision models for defined contribution pension plan members: A simulation study

This paper examines the hypothetical retirement behavior of defined contribution (DC) pension plan participants. Using a Monte Carlo simulation approach, we compare and discuss three retirement decision models: the two-thirds replacement ratio benchmark model, the option-value of continued work model and a newly-developed “one-year” retirement decision model. Unlike defined benefit (DB) pension plans where economic incentives create spikes in retirement at particular ages, all three retirement decision models suggest that the retirement ages of DC participants are much more smoothly distributed over a wide range of ages. We find that the one-year model possesses several advantages over the other two models when representing the theoretical retirement choice of a DC pension plan participant. First, its underlying theory for retirement decision-making is more feasible given the distinct features and pension drivers of a DC plan. Second, its specifications produce a more logical relationship between an individual’s decision to retire and his/her age and accumulated retirement wealth. Lastly, although the one-year model is less complex than the option-value model as the DC participants’ scope is only one year, the retirement decision is optimal over all future projected years if projections are made using reasonable financial assumptions.     

The effect of objective formulation on retirement decision making

For a retiree who must maintain both investment and longevity risks, we consider the impact on decision making of focusing on an objective relating to the terminal wealth at retirement, instead of a more correct objective relating to a retirement income. Both a shortfall and a utility objective are considered; we argue that shortfall objectives may be inappropriate due to distortion in results with non-monotonically correlated economic factors. The modelling undertaken uses a dynamic programming approach in conjunction with Monte-Carlo simulations of future experience of an individual to make optimal choices. We find that the type of objective targetted can have a significant impact on the optimal choices made, with optimal equity allocations being up to 30% higher and contribution amounts also being significantly higher under a retirement income objective as compared to a terminal wealth objective. The result of these differences can have a significant impact on retirement outcomes.     

Integrating optimal annuity planning with consumption-investment selections in retirement planning

Annuities can be effective tools in managing longevity risk in retirement planning. This paper develops a framework that merges annuity purchase decisions with consumption-investment selections in retirement planning. After introducing a pricing and a benefit payment model for an annuity, we construct a multi-period wealth evolution model. An optimization problem is formulated with an objective of maximizing lifetime utility of consumption and wealth. Optimal decisions are determined as a trade off between consumption and investment among an annuity, a risky and a risk-free asset. Computational results are provided to illustrate the practical implications of the framework.     

中国城市人口死亡率的预测

死亡率是随时间变动的具有不确定性的变量,基本养老保险的养老金给付必须考虑动态死亡率的影响,因此需要对中国城市人口的未来死亡率变动进行预测。针对部分年的中国城市分性别人口死亡率数据缺失的实际状况,本文运用死亡人数服从Poisson分布的Lee-Carter模型进行了预测,结果表明该模型的拟合较好。由上述预测得出,随时间的延续,中国城市人口的预期寿命将明显增加,为基本养老保险的支付带来严重的风险,该风险导致基本养老保险个人账户的收入远不足以支付未来的养老金,必须引起重视。本文就如何规避这一风险给出了一些政策建议。     

养老基金投资组合的常方差弹性(CEV)模型和解析决策

针对以年金形式发放待遇的缴费预定制养老基金,在退休前和退休后的两个阶段,分别构建了常方差弹性(CEV)模型,并应用Legendre变换将原问题转化为对偶问题,在追求指数效用最大化的条件下,求得了精确解析解,从而确定了这两个阶段的最优投资决策．     

Exploration of pension funding in case of exact vesting

A pension plan is said to be exactly vested if it provides in addition to the benefit available upon retirement, a benefit, upon termination for any cause prior to retirement, which is exactly equivalent to the actuarial accured liability for the terminating participant.The concept of exact vesting has simple application in defined contribution plans such as those of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association. It is also feasible to develop the exact vesting concept for a defined benefit plan which uses an individual type of actuarial cost method. An exactly vested plan would have more individual equity than is available under customary vesting and early retirement provisions of defined benefit plans.In this paper, theory is developed for an exactly vested model plan in parallel to the theory for a pure pension model plan discussed in previous papers on pension funding dynamics.     

Pension funds insurance individuation

This paper considers an individual's problem and effects on savings for retirement. We show using a deterministic model, a linear utility function and assuming an individual can benefit from a tax break in savings, that under reasonable circumstances, there is only one switch from not saving to starting to save. Further, we draw some implications for the effects of income inequalities expressed by individuals tax brackets on inequality after retirement. Due to the model's simplicity, further research is required which will consider the uncertain effects of income and the future on current savings decisions.     

Complex dynamics in an OLG model of neoclassical growth with endogenous retirement age and public pensions

This study analyses the dynamics of a general equilibrium, overlapping-generations (closed) economy with pay-as-you-go public pensions and tax-financed health investments that affect the retirement time when old. Life of the typical agent is divided between youth (firth period) and old age (second period). The latter period of life is, in turn, divided between work time and retirement time in a proportion contingent on an individual’s state of health. We show that: (i) a unique non-trivial steady state exists, and (ii) when the labour income tax rates used to finance health expenditure or public pensions are included in an intermediate range of values, complex dynamics occur when individuals have perfect foresight. This holds because the increase either in the fraction of time spent working when old or disability pensions reduces savings and capital accumulation. In addition, dynamic phenomena such as multiple bubbling structures related to the bifurcation diagram can be observed. Under some general assumptions, we show that the rise in health care expenditure and/or public pensions initially destabilises the steady-state equilibrium and causes complex dynamics but eventually acts as a stabilising device.     

基于Lee-Carter模型的互助养老年金研究

基于经典的双线性随机Lee-Carter模型,采用经济学的协整理论,对中国大陆男性人口死亡率进行预测,克服了ARIMA模型预测的局限性.在随机利率和Lee-Carter模型的基础上度量退休年金和生命年金的长寿风险,并为此提出应对策略,引入由消费者承担系统长寿风险、年金池承担个体长寿风险的群体自助养老年金(GSA),然后对其进行实证分析发现,与普通年金相比,GSA模型分担模式拥有较高的给付额.     

可持续的中国城乡居民养老保险体系数学模型

本文从我国现行养老金政策出发,利用灰关联分析得到养老金收支的影响因素的排序,建立中国城乡居民养老金收支模型.然后利用Logistic人口预测模型估计出不同替代率下2013-2035未来23年我国养老金缺口,并利用仿真方法算出保证我国养老保险体系的可持续性的替代率的合理区间为50%-70%.进一步分析影响替代率各因素的灵敏性,并考虑延迟退休、做实个人账户以及市场化投资等因素对模型进行改进.最后以养老金替代率为切入点,对退休年龄等模型参数的调整和有关措施进行了分析与评价.     

Optimal investment and consumption decision of a family with life insurance

We study an optimal portfolio and consumption choice problem of a family that combines life insurance for parents who receive deterministic labor income until the fixed time T. We consider utility functions of parents and children separately and assume that parents have an uncertain lifetime. If parents die before time T, children have no labor income and they choose the optimal consumption and portfolio with remaining wealth and life insurance benefit. The object of the family is to maximize the weighted average of utility of parents and that of children. We obtain analytic solutions for the value function and the optimal policies, and then analyze how the changes of the weight of the parents’ utility function and other factors affect the optimal policies.     

Optimal investment strategies and risk-sharing arrangements for a hybrid pension plan

A continuous time stochastic model is used to study a hybrid pension plan, where both the contribution and benefit levels are adjusted depending on the performance of the plan, with risk sharing between different generations. The pension fund is invested in a risk-free asset and multiple risky assets. The objective is to seek an optimal investment strategy and optimal risk-sharing arrangements for plan trustees and participants so that this proposed hybrid pension system provides adequate and stable income to retirees while adjusting contributions effectively, as well as keeping its sustainability in the long run. These goals are achieved by minimizing the expected discount disutility of intermediate adjustment for both benefits and contributions and that of terminal wealth in finite time horizon. Using the stochastic optimal control approach, closed-form solutions are derived under quadratic loss function and exponential loss function. Numerical analysis is presented to illustrate the sensitivity of the optimal strategies to parameters of the financial market and how the optimal benefit changes with respect to different risk aversions. Through numerical analysis, we find that the optimal strategies do adjust the contributions and retirement benefits according to fund performance and model objectives so the intergenerational risk sharing seem effectively achieved for this collective hybrid pension plan.     

Following the rules: Integrating asset allocation and annuitization in retirement portfolios

Financial advisers have developed standardized payout strategies to help Baby Boomers manage their money in their golden years. Prominent among these are phased withdrawal plans offered by mutual funds including the “self-annuitization” or default rules encouraged under US tax law, and fixed payout annuities offered by insurers. Using a utility-based framework, and taking account of stochastic capital markets and uncertain lifetimes, we first evaluate these rules on a stand-alone basis for a wide range of risk aversion. Next, we permit the consumer to integrate these standardized payout strategies at retirement and compare the results. We show that integrated strategies can enhance retirees’ well-being by 25%-50% for low/moderate levels of risk aversion when compared to full annuitization at retirement. Finally, we examine how welfare changes if the consumer is permitted to switch to a fixed annuity at an optimal point after retirement. This affords the retiree the chance to benefit from the equity premium when younger, and exploit the mortality credit in later life. For moderately risk-averse retirees, the optimal switching age lies between 80 and 85.     

Asset allocation,sustainable withdrawal,longevity risk and non-exponential discounting

The present paper studies an optimal withdrawal and investment problem for a retiree who is interested in sustaining her retirement consumption above a pre-specified minimum consumption level. Apparently, the withdrawal and investment policy depends substantially on the retiree’s health condition and her time preferences (subjective discount factor). We assume that the health of the retiree can worsen or improve in an unpredictable way over her lifetime and model the retiree’s mortality intensity by a stochastic process. In order to make the decision about the consumption and investment policy more realistic, we assume that the retiree applies a non-exponential discount factor (an exponential discount factor with a small amount of hyperbolic discounting) to value her future income. In other words, we consider an optimization problem by combining four important aspects: asset allocation, sustainable withdrawal, longevity risk and non-exponential discounting. Due to the non-exponential discount factor, we have to solve a time-inconsistent optimization problem. We derive a non-local HJB equation which characterizes the equilibrium optimal investment and consumption strategy. We establish the first-order expansions of the equilibrium value function and the equilibrium strategies by applying expansion techniques. The expansion is performed on the parameter controlling the degree of discounting in the hyperbolic discounting that is added to the exponential discount factors. The first-order equilibrium investment and consumption strategies can be calculated in a feasible way by solving PDEs.