Personal Retirement Challenges.

• Position: Brief article

An NBER Conference on "Personal Retirement Challenges" took place in Cambridge on November 1, 2013. The organizers were Zvi Bodie of Boston University and Research Associates Andrew Lo and Robert Merton, both of MIT. These papers were discussed:

* John Beshears, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian, Harvard University and NBER; James Choi, Yale University and NBER; and Stephen Zeldes, Columbia University and NBER, "What Makes Annuitization More Appealing?" (NBER Working Paper No. 18575)

* Lans Bovenberg, Tilburg University, and Roel Mehlkopf, Ministry of Social Affairs, The Netherlands, "Variable Annuities in Pension Schemes with Risk Sharing: Valuation, Investment and Communication"

* Veronika Pool and Irina Stefanescu, Indiana University; and Clemens Sialm, University of Texas, Austin and NBER, "It Pays to Set the Menu: Mutual Fund Investment Options in 401(k) Plans" (NBER Working Paper No. 18764)

* Ralph Koijen, London Business School and NBER; Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, New...