Annuities for an ageing world

Substantial research attention has been devoted to the pension accumulation process, whereby employees and those advising them work to accumulate funds for retirement. Until recently, less analysis has been devoted to the pension decumulation process – the process by which retirees finance their consumption during retirement. This gap has recently begun to be filled by an active group of researchers examining key aspects of the pension payout market. One of the areas of most interesting investigation has been in the area of annuities, which are financial products intended to cover the risk of retirees outliving their assets. This paper reviews and extends recent research examining the role of annuities in helping finance retirement consumption. We also examine key market and regulatory factors

International Adverse Selection in Life Insurance and Annuities

This paper evaluates the extent of adverse selection in life insurance and annuities in international markets, for both group and individual products. We also compare results with prior analyses of adverse selection in international annuity markets, focusing on the US, the UK, and Japan. Our results help assess the extent to which life insurers can hedge mortality exposure by writing both life insurance and annuities, and they may be used to determine a normal range for adverse selection in international insurance markets.

Annuities for an Ageing World

Substantial research attention has been devoted to the pension accumulation process, whereby employees and those advising them work to accumulate funds for retirement. Until recently, less analysis has been devoted to the pension decumulation process -- the process by which retirees finance their consumption during retirement. This gap has recently begun to be filled by an active group of researchers examining key aspects of the pension payout market. One of the areas of most interesting investigation has been in the area of annuities, which are financial products intended to cover the risk of retirees outliving their assets. This paper reviews and extends recent research examining the role of annuities in helping finance retirement consumption. We also examine key market and regulatory factors.

Blanket Retroactive Amelioration: A Remedy for Disproportionate Punishments

While statutes determine the conditions under which an individual is to be held accountable for their actions and identifies the punishment that shall attach to that conduct, they are not engraved in stone. Laws can and are changed. Legislatures will revisit whether a penalty is too harsh (or too lenient), and amend an existing statute to reflect the legislature’s evaluation of what is contemporaneously appropriate. This re-evaluation of a statutory punishment is ongoing assessment to determine whether the punishment is proportional to the conduct. Blanket retroactive amelioration allows society to correct overly harsh, overreactions and to restore the balance between the punishment and the offense. No theory is perfect but it would seem a rather distasteful system of criminal justice and one that is manifestly unjust if punishments are lessened or conduct is decriminalized and not retroactively applied. Mercy and justice should not be sacrificed for adherence to a process

Zero Tolerance Policies: Criminalizing Childhood and Disenfranchising the Next Generation of Citizens

A juvenile adjudication of guilt has far more drastic consequences than existed just ten years ago ... Some of these consequences may not be apparent for a number of years, but their possibility should be anticipated, fully considered, and planned for, wherever possible. Under zero tolerance, students are suspended, expelled, or referred to juvenile authorities or some combination thereof for specified offenses. Zero tolerance policies punish students harshly regardless of the severity of the infraction, the existence of mitigating circumstances, or the context in which the conduct occurred. Part II discusses the origin and evolution of zero tolerance policies, as well as the various legal challenges to the policies. Part III discusses the concept of a citizen and how students subjected to zero tolerance policies are destined to become the next generation of disenfranchised citizens. Finally, Part IV offers some prescriptions on how to prevent the creation of a new generation of disenfranchised citizens

Undermining Individual and Collective Citizenship: The Impact of Exclusion Laws on the African-American Community

The purpose of this article is to expose felon exclusion laws as a method for undermining the individual and collective citizenship rights of the African-American community, and to call for their abolition

Notice(ing) Ex-Offenders: A Case Study of the Manifest Injustice of Passively Violating a Felon-in-Possession Statute

Changing a law and criminalizing formerly legal conduct without providing notice of the change and without providing a reasonable period of time for the offending individual to comply with the change not only violates due process but is also manifestly unjust, especially given the scope and breadth of the collateral consequences that attach upon a felony conviction, such as the loss of the right to vote, to serve on a jury, or to receive certain benefits. With the far-reaching impact of a felony conviction on all areas of an individual\u27s life, the maxim that ignorance of the law excuses no one is outdated. Under the contemporary lawmaking landscape, citizens cannot be aware of the numerous changes to the criminal code. With citizens being unable to know the criminal code, there is a need for greater reliance on the already-established exceptions to the maxim, thus providing vulnerable populations with a greater opportunity to avoid future contact with the law that will result not only in voting disenfranchisement but also in a denial of a host of other rights and privileges because of a felony conviction. This Article proceeds as follows. Part I discusses Missouri\u27s current and prior felon-in-possession statutes. Part II presents Willie L. Williams\u27s background and discusses when notice is provided in other legal contexts and why it should have been provided in this instance. Part III presents a policy recommendation to address such issues in the future

Race, Class, and Second Chances: The Impact of Multiple Identities on Reentry and Reintegration

(Excerpt) Race, class, and other identities directly impact the process of reentry and the successful reintegration back into society for individuals who have had prior involvement in the criminal justice system. Collectively, persons convicted of a crime face numerous legal barriers that interfere with or prevent successful reentry and reintegration back into society, such as being prevented from securing housing and obtaining employment among other collateral consequences. For many, the process of reentry and reintegration is made even more difficult because of prior discriminatory policies and practices that were based solely on demographic factors, some of which are innate or immutable traits and others which are due solely because of circumstance. Persons with prior criminal justice system involvement comprise a broad and diverse group of individuals. While all persons with prior criminal justice involvement face a host of formal legal barriers and challenges that impede the process of reentry thus hampering their successful reintegration back into society, all do not bear the same social stigma or face the same impact of multiple identities on their reintegration. As a group, individuals with prior criminal justice involvement are legally prevented from exercising the rights and privileges afforded to all citizens depending on where they are returning upon release. The deprivation or denial of the rights and privileges associated with citizenship is based solely upon the status of being a convicted person. Within the sub-group of persons with prior criminal justice involvement, however, race and socioeconomic status (or class) make the process of reentry and reintegration even more difficult. Individuals with prior criminal justice involvement that are either black, poor, or a combination thereof have to overcome challenges and obstacles that were systemically created and systematically enforced long before they entered the criminal justice system. The processes of reentry and reintegration are made even more difficult because of the historical and contemporary discrimination and marginalization of these multiple identities within the criminal justice system and in society writ large. Preexisting societal conditions that operated before persons entered the criminal justice system--that is, race-based and class-based policies that are beyond their control at a macro-level, which discriminate against people of color and poor people--are institutionalized and thus negatively impact the ability of these persons to reenter and reintegrate society successfully

Impeding Reentry: Agency and Judicial Obstacles to Longer Halfway House Placements

Part I of this article details the Bureau of Prisons\u27 rules and policies governing inmate placement, including the most recent iteration. Part II examines Chevron27 and the Bureau of Prisons\u27 extraordinary justification exception rule. Part III turns to the threshold matter of obtaining judicial access to challenge the Bureau of Prisons\u27 new rule, with Part III.A arguing that the federal courts should relax their standards when faced with exceptions to the exhaustion requirement and Part III.B arguing for the adoption of a federal public importance exception to the mootness doctrine. The article concludes that these changes will further Congress\u27 dual purposes for passing the Second Chance Act: decreasing recidivism and increasing public safety