Pension Policy Center

January 1, 2022

John A. Turner, PhD

Director

The Pension Policy Center seeks consulting and research projects concerning pensions, Social Security, financial planning for retirement, financial advice and disclosures, financial fees, fiduciary duty, pension investing, behavioral finance, alternatives to financial literacy, and other retirement issues in the United States and other countries using the analytic technics of both traditional and behavioral economics.

This is the fourteenth annual report of the Pension Policy Center. The year 2021 was another productive year. This report provides information about the Pension Policy Center research projects completed in 2021 and other accomplishments during the year. It notes with sadness the passing of three colleagues.

Pension Policy Center Publications in 2021

Turner and Tianhong Chen wrote, “China’s Development of a Multi-tier Pension System.” International Social Security Review, 2021. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/issr.12256#:~:text=China%20has%20made%20a%20number,voluntary%20programmes%20established%20by%20individuals

Turner and Bruce W. Klein wrote, “Improving on Defaults: Helping Pension Participants Manage Financial Market Risk in Target Date Funds.” Risks 9(4): 79, 2021. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/9/4/79#cite

Turner and Bruce W. Klein wrote, “Mental Accounting, the Social Safety Net, and Pensions as Piggy Banks.” Journal of Financial Services Professionals 75(6): 53-61, 2021.

Turner and Denis Latulippe wrote, “Robo Advisors for Canadian Pension Participants.” Global Risk Institute, 2021.

Turner and Leslie A. Muller wrote, “Sample Selection Bias Due to Differential Mortality: A Supplementary Measure of Old-Age Poverty.” Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 2021.

Turner and Leslie A. Muller wrote, “Financial Literacy, the ‘High Fee Puzzle,’ and Knowledge About the Importance of Fees.” Journal of Retirement 8(3): 29-38, 2021.  A shorter version was published in Practical Applications, 2021.

Turner and David Rajnes wrote, ‘‘Workers’ Expectations about their Future Social Security Benefits: How Realistic Are They?” Social Security Bulletin 81(4), 2021. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v81n4/v81n4p1.html

Turner, Richard Fullmer, and Jonathan Barry Forman wrote, “Tontines and Collective Annuities: Lessons from an International Survey.” New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Chapter 4, 2021.

Turner, Yael Hadass, Marion Laboure, and Sally Shen wrote, “Fintech and the Retirement Savings System.” 2021. Society of Actuaries.  Fintech and the Retirement Savings System (soa.org)

Turner wrote, “Improving Pension Participants’ Outcomes Through Litigation: Investments and Fees.” New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Chapter 2, 2021.

Turner wrote, “Hispanic/Latinos, Trust, and Pensions.” Aging and Retirement Issues for People of Different Races and Ethnicities: Essay Collection. Society of Actuaries. 2021. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2021/aging-retirement-different-races/

Turner wrote, “Alternatives to Financial Literacy: Helping Pension Participants to Invest.” Benefits Quarterly 37, 2021, third quarter, pp. 32-37.

Turner wrote a book review on Retirement Planning Guidebook: Navigating the Important Decisions for Retirement Success by Wade Pfau.  Journal of Retirement, 2021.

Turner wrote, “Understanding Private Sector Longevity Insurance Annuities.” Retirement Income Institute, 2021.

Pension Policy Center Papers Accepted for Publication

Turner, Kamila Bielawska, and Sally Shen wrote, “Issues of Trust:  Plans, Participants and Service Providers Over the Past 25 Years.” The Evolution of Supplementary Pensions: 25 Years of Pension Reform, edited by James Kolaczkowski, Michelle Maher, Yves Stevens, and Jacob Markus Werbrouck. Edward Elgar, 2022.

Turner and Inmaculada Domínguez Fabián wrote, “The Evolution of the Spanish Private Pension System: 1994-2019.” The Evolution of Supplementary Pensions: 25 Years of Pension Reform, edited by James Kolaczkowski, Michelle Maher, Yves Stevens, and Jacob Markus Werbrouck. Edward Elgar, 2022.

Turner, Jonathan Barry Forman, and Dana M. Muir wrote, “The Evolution of the U.S. Pension System: 1994-2019.” The Evolution of Supplementary Pensions: 25 Years of Pension Reform, edited by James Kolaczkowski, Michelle Maher, Yves Stevens, and Jacob Markus Werbrouck. Edward Elgar, 2022.

Turner and Dana M. Muir wrote, “Covid-19 and U.S. Private Pensions.” Benefits Quarterly, 2022.

Turner and Sally Shen wrote, “Identity Authentication versus Criminal Counter-Innovations: Pension Account Security,” Benefits Quarterly, 2022.

Turner wrote, “The Suitability of Securities Token Offerings, Cryptocurrencies, and Crypto-Related Assets for Pension Investments” in Digital Assets: Pricing, Allocation and Regulation, 2022.

Turner wrote, “Population Aging and Pension Policies.” International Handbook of Population Policies, edited by John May, Springer, 2022.

Pension Policy Center Working Papers

Turner, Olivia S. Mitchell, and Catherine Reilly wrote, “Which Retirees Should Retain Their Assets in their Employers’ Retirement Plans? And Do Employers Want the Assets to Stay?”

Turner, Humberto Godínez-Olivares, David D. McCarthy, and María del Carmen Boado-Penas wrote, “Determining Discount Rates Required to Fund Defined Benefit Plans.”

Turner, Joanna Rutecka-Góra, and Sylwia Pieńkowska-Kamieniecka wrote, “Complex Pension Products: The Evidence from Poland.”

Turner and Kamila Bielawska wrote, “Trust and the Behavioral Economics of Automatic Enrollment in Pensions.”

Turner, Gerard Hughes, and Michelle Mayer wrote, “The Economics of Labeling People ‘Elderly’”

Turner and Richard Fullmer wrote, “Robo Tontines.”

Turner and Bruce W. Klein wrote, “Law versus Economics: Judicial Decisions in Pension Fees Cases.”

Turner and Bruce W. Klein wrote, “Piggy Bank Economics versus Mental Accounting: Savers’ Commitment, Pensions, and Housing.”

Turner and Denis Latulippe wrote, “Social Security and Partial Retirement: The U.S. and Canada.”

Turner and David M. Rajnes wrote, “Gender Differences in Social Security Expectations.”

Turner and Sally Shen wrote, “Population Ageing, Pensions, and Global Climate Change.”

Turner and Norman P. Stein wrote, “Shove vs Nudge: Retirement Income Policy When Nudge Is Not Enough.”

Turner wrote, “Pension Fee Benchmarking: The Wisdom of Crowds versus Herd Mentality.”

Turner wrote, “Noise in Financial Advice: A Comparison Between Human and Robo Advisors.”

Turner wrote, “Social Security Financing, Shadow Prices, and Population Aging.”

Other Accomplishments

According to Google Scholar Citations, Turner’s research has received more than 3,700 citations. He has six publications with more than 100 citations. His research has an h-score of 29, meaning that he has at least 29 publications with at least 29 citations. According to ResearchGate, the roughly 50 publications of Turner that it provides online have received more than 12,800 reads. His research score on ResearchGate is higher than 87.5 percent of its scholars. This year Turner became an affiliate of the Australian economic research organization CEPAR.

 

In Memoriam

The Pension Policy Center notes with sadness the passing of beloved colleague and coauthor Gerard Hughes. He was not only a good colleague and good friend, he was a good person.

The Pension Policy Center notes with sadness the passing of Karen Ferguson, a champion of pension rights for workers, and a caring, dedicated person.

The Pension Policy Center notes with sadness the passing of Jonathan Forman. He was a prolific and innovative scholar.