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.     

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Raman and Infrared Spectroscopic Investigation of Speciation in BeSO<Subscript>4</Subscript>(aq)

Measurements have been made of the Raman spectra of aqueous solutions of Be(ClO₄)₂, BeCl₂, (NH₄)₂SO₄ and BeSO₄ to 50 cm⁻¹. In some cases low concentrations (0.000770 mol⋅kg⁻¹) have been used and two temperatures (23 and 40 °C) were studied. In BeSO₄(aq), the ν ₁-SO₄^2-\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-} mode at 980 cm⁻¹ broadens with increasing concentration and shifts to higher wavenumbers. At the same time, a band at 1014 cm⁻¹ is detectable with this mode being assigned to [BeOSO₃], an inner-sphere complex (ISC). Confirmation of this assignment is provided by the simultaneous appearance of stretching bands for the Be²⁺-OSO₃^2-\mathrm{Be}^{2+}\mbox{-}\mathrm{OSO}_{3}^{2-} bond of the complex at 240 cm⁻¹ and for the BeO₄ skeleton mode of the [(H₂O)₃BeOSO₃] unit at 498 cm⁻¹. The ISC concentration increases with higher temperatures. The similarity of the n₁-SO₄^2-\nu_{1}\mbox{-}\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-} Raman bands for BeSO₄ in H₂O and D₂O is further strong evidence for formation of an ISC. After subtraction of the ISC component at 1014 cm⁻¹, the n₁-SO₄^2-\nu_{1}\mbox{-}\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-} band in BeSO₄(aq) showed systematic differences from that in (NH₄)₂SO₄(aq). This is consistent with a n₁-SO₄^2-\nu_{1}\mbox{-}\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-} mode at 982.7 cm⁻¹ that can be assigned to the occurrence of an outer-sphere complex ion (OSCs). These observations are shown to be in agreement with results derived from previous relaxation measurements. Infrared spectroscopic data show features that are also consistent with a beryllium sulfato complex such as the appearance of a broad and weak n₁-SO₄^2-\nu_{1}\mbox{-}\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-} mode at ∼1014 cm⁻¹, normally infrared forbidden, and a broad and asymmetric n₃-SO₄^2-\nu_{3}\mbox{-}\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-} band contour which could be fitted with four band components (including n₃-SO₄^2-(aq)\nu_{3}\mbox{-}\mathrm{SO}_{4}^{2-}(\mathrm{aq})). The formation of ISCs in BeSO₄(aq) is much more pronounced than in the similar MgSO₄(aq) system studied recently.     

Ethanol/water solutions as certified reference materials for breath alcohol analyzer calibration

The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Germany, has issued a series of large volume ethanol in water certified reference materials (CRMs), primarily developed for the calibration of evidential breath alcohol analyzers in Germany. The certified parameter is the ethanol mass concentration at 20 °C. When used in a wet bath simulator, the solutions deliver gas samples that meet the requirements set by the Organization of Legal Metrology for calibration of breathalyzers. The materials were prepared gravimetrically by spiking of ethanol into water in single 5 L units. A complete uncertainty budget for the preparation process has been established. The purity of the commercial ethanol stock solution was identified to be the main source of uncertainty. For stability and homogeneity measurements and for the verification of the gravimetric mass concentration of the CRMs, a robust high-precision gas chromatography, with flame-ionization detection method for ethanol determination in aqueous samples was developed and validated. The good performance of this method has been demonstrated in several international comparisons organized by the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance—Metrology in Chemistry at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.