Retirement, Pensions and Annuities
AACG’s labor economists have a long track record of researching retirement plans and annuities issues. We served and continue to serve as economic experts in a number of class action cases and have assisted the U.S. Department of Labor since 1997 with background research and Regulatory Impact Analyses of proposed regulations. AACG professionals:
- Assist clients benchmark their business against national industry customs,
- Help generate appreciation for both financial and insurance aspects of pensions and annuities, and
- Explain how and why business patterns have evolved over time.
An AACG economist was interviewed on annuities by KNX 1070 Newsradio (Los Angeles) and quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, Money Magazine, Robb Report Worth, and numerous other publications.
Representative Engagements
- In a class action matter against a 401(k) provider, AACG professionals served as experts on the potential benefits of IRA rollovers for 401(k) participants who retired or changed jobs.
- In a class action matter involving the sale of deferred annuities to senior citizens, AACG professionals served as experts on how lifelong-guaranteed income tends to boost well-being during retirement.
- In another class action matter involving the sale of deferred annuities to senior citizens, AACG professionals served as experts to demonstrate how interest guarantees benefitted policyholders during the 2008 market downturn.
- The U.S. Department of Labor commissioned an AACG expert to study a variety of labor and pensions issues, including on revenue sharing and fees on mutual funds, interactions between pensions and hedge funds, pension cash-outs upon job separation, implications for old-age poverty of the shift from traditional to defined contribution pensions, computer models to advice on 401(k) saving level and asset allocation, the role of government institutions for wealth accumulation, long-term trends in the American workforce and workplace, and retiree health benefits.
Selected Publications
- Michael Brien and Constantijn (Stan) Panis: “Revenue Sharing in DC Plans: What Does It Mean for Plan Sponsors?” Pensions and Investments Online, March 2008.
- Michael Hurd and Constantijn (Stan) Panis: “An Analysis of the Choice to Cash Out, Maintain, or Annuitize Pension Rights upon Job Change or Retirement.” Journal of Public Economics, 2006, Volume 90 (12): 2213-2217.
- Arie Kapteyn and Constantijn (Stan) Panis: “The Size and Composition of Wealth Holdings in the United States, Italy, and the Netherlands.” 2005. Chapter 9 in Analyses in the Economics of Aging, edited by David Wise. National Bureau of Economic Research, The University of Chicago Press.
- Michael Hurd, Constantijn (Stan) Panis, James P. Smith, Julie Zissimopoulos: “Pension Annuitization and Social Security Claiming. 2004. Chapter 5 in Developing an Annuity Market in Europe, edited by Elsa Fornero and Elisa Luciano. ISBN 1843764768. Edward Elgar, London.
- Constantijn (Stan) Panis: “Annuities and Retirement Well-Being.” 2004. Chapter 14 in Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance, edited by Olivia Mitchell and Stephen Utkus. ISBN 0-19-927339-1. Oxford University Press.