JITA/ICI Retirement Savings Roundtable: A Discussion of US and Japanese Retirement Savings Policy

Learn about retirement saving innovation and the role of investment funds

Populations in both the United States and Japan face the same retirement challenges that we are seeing around the globe: relatively fewer workers, relatively more elderly people, and longer lifespans that increase the needed resources to support retirees. These demographic shifts are challenging all aspects of the retirement system: defined benefit pension plans must find ways to fund their pension liabilities to cover longer lives, while policymakers, employers, and the financial industry must find ways to assist individuals in saving more for their retirement through defined contribution retirement plans and individual retirement account vehicles.

Using the data from more than four decades of experience in the United States, the US investment fund industry hopes to share insights on how policymakers and others may address those challenges. This roundtable will bring together US and Japanese retirement experts and policymakers to discuss ways to meet retirees’ financial needs over their increasing lifespans.

Join us this November for a retirement savings roundtable, presented by the Investment Trusts Association, Japan (JITA) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). Participants will have the opportunity to gain insight into the retirement policy process in the United States and Japan. Roundtable speakers will discuss retirement reforms under consideration in Japan and the context for their consideration, as the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare seeks to promote account-based retirement saving.  

Specific topics will include:

• Japanese regulatory activity on retirement policy
• History of US and Japanese account-based retirement saving
• Tax policy and plan design as keys to successful retirement saving and investing
• Investment funds’ importance in helping retirement savers achieve their goals
• Household management of income and assets in their retirement years