Beyond the Pension Rethinking Retirement Insurance

This talk explores the evolving landscape of retirement insurance in response to increasing longevity and diverse life paths. As people live longer, healthier, and more dynamic lives, traditional retirement models focused mainly on pensions, health coverage, and life insurance are no longer sufficient. The presentation challenges actuaries to rethink retirement not as an endpoint, but as a vibrant new phase of life requiring more holistic support. Emerging needs such as mental well-being, caregiving assistance, long-term care, and safe aging in place demand innovative insurance solutions. The proposed ideas include caregiver salary benefits, wellness-linked incentives, home safety upgrades, and final expense coverage features that reflect the complexity of modern aging. Actuaries are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation by using data, forecasting tools, and inclusive modeling to design products that are not only financially sound but socially meaningful. The call to action emphasizes building forward leveraging actuarial expertise, technology, and creativity to ensure that retirement insurance supports a longer, fuller, and more secure life for all.