| dataset_desc |
e economic and fiscal effects of an aging society e economic and fiscal effects of an aging society have been extensively studied and are generally recognized by policymakers, but the financial consequences associated with the risk that people live longer than expected—longevity risk—has received less attention.1 Unanticipated increases in the average human life span can result from misjudging the continuing upward trend in life expectancy, introducing small forecasting errors that compound over time to become potentially significant. This has happened in the past. There is also risk of a sudden large increase in longevity as a result of, for example, an unanticipated medical breakthrough. Although longevity advancements increase the productive life span and welfare of millions of individuals, they also represent potential costs when they reach retirement. More attention to this issue is warranted now from the financial viewpoint; since longevity risk exposure is large, it adds to the already massive costs of aging populations expected in the decades ahead, fiscal balance sheets of many of the affected countries are weak, and effective mitigation measures will take years to bear fruit. The large costs of aging are being recognized, including a belated catchup to the currently expected increases in average human life spans. The costs of longevity risk—unexpected increases in life spans—are not well appreciated, but are of similar magnitude. This chapter presents estimates that suggest that if everyone lives three years longer than now expected—the average underestimation of longevity in the past—the present discounted value of the additional living expenses of everyone during those additional years of life amounts to between 25 and 50 percent of 2010 GDP. On a global scale, that increase amounts to tens of trillions of U.S. dollars, boosting the already recognized costs of aging substantially. Threats to financial stability from longevity risk derive from at least two major sources. One is the
Note: This chapter was written by S. Erik Oppers (team leader), Ken Chikada, Frank Eich, Patrick Imam, John Kiff, Michael Kisser, Mauricio Soto, and Tao Sun. Research support was provided by Yoon Sook Kim. 1See, for example, IMF (2011a).
threats to fiscal sustainability as a result of large longevity exposures of governments, which, if realized, could push up debttoGDP ratios more than 50 percentage points in some countries. A second factor is possible threats to the solvency of private financial and corporate institutions exposed to longevity risk; for example, corporate pension plans in the United States could see their liabilities rise by some 9 percent, a shortfall that would require many multiples of typical yearly contributions to address. Longevity risk threatens to undermine fiscal sustainability in the coming years and decades, complicating the longerterm consolidation efforts in response to the current fiscal difficulties.2 Much of the risk borne by governments (that is, current and future taxpayers) is through public pension plans, social security schemes, and the threat that private pension plans and individuals will have insufficient resources to provide for unexpectedly lengthy retirements. Most private pension systems in the advanced economies are currently underfunded and longevity risk alongside low interest rates further threatens their financial health. A threepronged approach should be taken to address longevity risk, with measures implemented as soon as feasible to avoid a need for much larger adjustments later. Measures to be taken include: (i) acknowledging government exposure to longevity risk and implementing measures to ensure that it does not threaten medium and longterm fiscal sustainability; (ii) risk sharing between governments, private pension providers, and individuals, partly through increased individual financial buffers for retirement, pension system reform, and sustainable oldage safety nets; and (iii) transferring longevity risk in capital markets to those that can better bear it. An important part of reform will be to link retirement ages to advances in longevity. If undertaken now, these mitigation measures can be implemented in a gradual and sustainable way. Delays would increase risks to financial and fiscal stability, potentially requiring much larger and disruptive measures in the future.
... |