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GerardHughes,JohnA.Turner
earlyeightieswithinflationratesaslowas3percent.Peoplewithlowpublicpen-
sionbenefitswhoareintheir80sandolderareeconomicallyvulnerable.Atthat
age,fewareabletooffsettheirlowbenefitsbyworking.Theymayhaveusedup
theirretirementassetsotherthantheirpublicpensionbenefit,andtheymayhave
increasedexpensesduetoincreasedneedformedicalcare.Inthefuture,withthe
declineofdefinedbenefitplansinmanycountries,itcanbeexpectedthatanin-
creasingpercentageofthepopulationwillnothaveanannuitizedbenefitotherthan
publicpension,andthuswillbemorelikelytohavespentdowntheirothersources
ofretirementincome.Asamatterofnationalpolicy,itisdesirablethatpeople
inthisagegroupareabletolivewithsufficientresourcestoenjoythelastyearsof
theirliveswithdignity.Publicpensionprovidesaguaranteedlifetimebenefit,but
insomecountries,suchastheUnitedStatesandIreland,itisinsufficientformost
peopletomaintaintheirpre-retirementstandardofliving.
Preventingpeoplefromfallingintopovertyastheyageisakeygoalofpublic
pensions.Longevityinsuranceisonewaytoaddresstheincomeneedsofolder
peoplewhohavelivedlongerthantheyexpected,andhaveuseduptheirretirement
savingsotherthantheirpublicpensionbenefit.Whileallannuitiesprovideretirees
adegreeoflongevityinsurance,inrecentyearsthetermlongevityinsurancehas
beenusedtorefertoaparticulartypeofdeferredannuity.Longevityinsuranceis
adeferredannuitythatstartsatanadvancedage,suchasage82.Longevityinsur-
anceannuities,anideaadvancedbyMilevsky[2005],provideinsuranceagainst
outlivingonesassets,butonlywhenthatriskbecomessubstantialatadvanced
ages.
Thisarticleproposesthatlongevityinsuranceshouldbeaddedasaformofben-
efitprovidedbypublicpensions.Thistypeofbenefitwouldbeparticularlyvalua-
bleasapartofareformpackagethatincludedbenefitcuts.Asocialsafetynet
benefitwouldbeneededtooffsettheeffectsofpublicpensionbenefitcutsonolder
retirees.
Thispaperfirstdiscussestheincreaseinpovertyatolderages.Second,itde-
scribeslongevityinsurancebenefits.Third,itdocumentstheroleoflongevityin-
suranceintheearlyhistoryofPublicpension.Fourth,itdescribesproblemswith
theprovisionoflongevityinsurancebytheprivatesector.Fifth,itcomparesthe
provisionoflongevityinsuranceintheprivatesectortoitsprovisioninthepublic
sector,indicatingadvantagesofprovidinglongevityinsurancebenefitsthrough
publicpensionsratherthanthroughtheprivatesector.Sixth,thepaperdiscusses
government-providedlongevityinsurancebenefitsinIreland.Seventh,itoffers
concludingcomments.