“Flexicure” retirement solutions: A part of the answer to the pension crisis?

Individuals preparing for retirement are currently left with an unsatisfactory choice between security with no flexibility with annuity products and flexibility without security with investment products such as balanced funds or target date funds. To get out of this impasse, the authors introduce a range of flexicure retirement goal-based investing strategies that offer both security and flexibility with respect to the objective of generating replacement income in decumulation. Recent advances in financial engineering and digital technologies make it possible to apply goal-based investing principles to a much broader population of investors than the few traditional clients who can afford customized mandates or private banking services, which suggests that these flexicure retirement solutions can be used as part of the solution to the global pension crisis.