The Society of Actuaries (SOA) just published a series of short whitepapers or “briefs” that focus on some of the major decisions that are encountered by retirees.

This is a great resource for consumers who are seeking objective content produced by experts.

The Society has clearly made efforts to create content that is accessible to a non professional audience.  The briefs are clear, short and focus on consumer-relevant topics such as “when should I retire.”

There are 11 briefs, and the topics include:

As the manager of the largest bond fund in the world and a founder of PIMCO, Bill Gross is a leading authority on all things related to yield.

Since retirement finances are fundamentally about generating income from accumulated assets, retirees should care greatly about any comments and insights from Gross.  This is especially true since the world is starved for yield.

Gross regularly shares his insights through commentary on the PIMCO website.

Consumer discretionary spending is the major driver of the U.S. economy as household purchases make-up about 71 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

Without growth in consumer spending, the economy would most likely go nowhere.

Since economic growth is generally considered a good thing, it stands to reason that we should be looking for things that contribute to consumer spending.

Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) founder and co-chief investment officer Bill Gross offered a revised view of the global investing landscape in a letter published on the company’s website. 

As the manager of the Pimco Total Return Fund, Gross’s 2011 investment decisions were driven in part by the “new normal” thesis. 

The new normal view suggests that investors should seek emerging market debt because developed countries will experience a prolonged period of sluggish growth, high unemployment and inflation. 

Canadian insurer Sun Life recently announced that it will exit the variable annuity and individual life insurance markets in the United States.

Continued equity market volatility has resulted in a variable annuity business that is plagued with uncertainty and higher costs.

Insurers such as Sun Life offer guarantees that are linked to the performance of underlying equity portfolios.  These guarantees are a liability for the insurance company, and equity market volatility contributes to the cost of these liabilities.