Services

Anna Rappaport is available for consulting, keynoting and major speaking engagements focusing on the following topics: 

The aging society

  • Work and retirement in the aging society – Over the last decade, Americans have been reinventing retirement.  As the Baby Boom generation reaches the “third age,” and what was once a traditional retirement age, American society will assume a different shape, with many implications for financial security and employment. Individuals want choices as they lead their lives and businesses need to capitalize on a different environment.  Phased retirement will be the key order of the day. Anna Rappaport can focus on employer, individual and social implications of these changes.
  • Implications of living to 100 – One of the drivers of the aging society and of the emerging needs of women is the increase in life spans. The Society of Actuaries sponsored multi-disciplinary international symposia on this topic in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014. Anna keynoted the 2003 symposium and she presented a paper on implications of post-retirement risks at the high ages in 2005. She moderated and organized two panels – one on societal implications of long life and one on the impact on patterns of retirement in 2008, and presented a paper on women and long life. She authored and presented two papers in 2011. She moderated and organized two panels – one on business implications of long life and one on human resources implications of long life in 2014, and presented two papers in that symposium. See the Society of Actuaries Living to 100 website for her views on these topics and for many other interesting papers.

Post-retirement risks

  • Understanding and managing post-retirement risks – Retirement planning and management can be thought of as in two phases: accumulating resources and using them.  The traditional focus has been on accumulating resources.  Anna’s focus is on post-retirement risks, which is about understanding the issues and options in the phase when assets are to be used. She wrote a paper summarizing key issues and findings from the first 15 years of the Society of Actuaries post-retirement risk research and presented it at the 2014 Living to 100 symposium. She writes and speaks regularly on this research. 
  • The future of employee benefits –  Employee benefits are an important part of the response to post-retirement risk.  The structure of employee benefits is very important in the future of the distribution of risk between employer and employee. The same economic, regulatory and demographic pressures are driving change in the health care system as well as pensions. Anna can help you focus on the link between the environment and the total benefits package and think about alternative futures for the benefits package.
  • Pension system issues – The pension system is under a great deal of strain from increased pressure on resources in private sector and public environments, complex regulation, emerging standards with regard to financial reporting and transparency, a fluctuating economic environment, global competition and shifting demographics. A major shift to individual responsibility is accompanied by increased evidence that individuals are poorly prepared to handle that responsibility. After more than 25 years in the business, Anna feels that there are a number of important lessons learned and is seeking better solutions. She has given a keynote presentation to two different groups focusing on system realities, lessons learned and a wish list for the future. She testified at the ERISA Advisory Council in 2008 on distributions from DC plans and on phased retirement. She did a US Pensions Update for The Conference Board of Canada in 2013. 

Women and Retirement

  • Women’s Outlook for Retirement – Women have different work and life histories than men; they live longer and are likely to have fewer years in the paid labor force and, on average, lower earnings. They are much less likely than men to have a spouse later in life.  Women have different challenges in creating a secure retirement, but often these issues are neglected in discussions about retirement policy.
  • Social Security reform – Anna Rappaport can provide perspective on Social Security reform and focus on how women would be affected by various reforms.   She served on the 2003 Technical Panel to the Social Security Advisory Board and, during her service, advocated for a recommendation that would lead to more focus on how benefits are paid to people in different situations.   In 2008, she participated as one of four authors in a Contingencies feature: Remaking Social Security from the Ground Up. She believes that we need to balance our view of policy by looking at how benefits are paid when we look at costs.

Consulting on aging workforce strategies

Demographics have always been important. The aging workforce will present new opportunities and greater challenges for many organizations. Anna Rappaport can help you identify a range of areas for responding to the new environment. While at Mercer, she worked on Mercer’s team to help the AARP develop the report: Staying Ahead of the Curve 2004: Employer Best Practices for Mature Workers. That report can be found on the AARP website and a link is included in Resources.

Writing articles and position papers

Anna Rappaport can help you formulate your point of view and develop it into an article or position paper. She can help you develop ideas that you can then execute.

Formal presentations tailored for a large group and interactive discussions for small group

Anna Rappaport can work with you to identify what is important to your organization and build a presentation or conversation to help address your issues.

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