Impact of Climate Change Risk on Retirement: A Collection of Essays

Published March 24, 2026

Authors

Syed Danish Ali, CSPA
Abby Cohen
Laurie Winters
Xinyi (Cindy) Hu, ASA, MAAA
Robert D. Lieberthal, Ph.D.
Ferdouz Cochrane, Ph.D.
Niranjan Rajendran, B.Sc.

Summary

This essay collection examines how climate risk affects retirement by disrupting investments, housing, and healthcare. It highlights financial volatility, insurance challenges, and care disruptions, emphasizing interconnected risks and the need for resilience, diversification, and adaptive planning strategies for retirees.

Key Components

Introduction and Purpose

Defines climate risk and its relevance to retirement systems
Frames impacts across financial, housing, and health dimensions

Essay 1: Retirement Under the Eternal Blue Sky: Nest Eggs or Lifeboats? Financial, Housing, and Health Strategies

Explores interconnected risks across three pillars
Includes scenario tables (e.g., Table 1 on page 10) showing global investment impacts

Essay 2: Climate Risk: Catastrophe Planning and Financial Modeling for Retirement

Focuses on insurance systems, catastrophe risk, and financial resilience
Highlights rising insurance costs and coverage withdrawal (see heatmap on page 17)

Essay 3: Will Climate Risk Have an Overall Positive or Negative Impact on Future Retirement Investments or Will It Be Mixed With Both Winners and Losers?

Explains sectoral disruption and growth in green investments
Emphasizes diversification and ESG considerations

Essay 4: Climate Events and Healthcare Continuity: Medicare Plan Variations and Economic Impacts

Describes healthcare disruption during climate events
Analyzes Medicare limitations and cost implications

Essay 5: Retirement on Shifting Sands: Navigating Climate Change’s Hidden Threats to Your Golden Years

Covers housing crises, climate migration, and economic effects
Provides practical mitigation strategies

How does climate change affect retirement planning?

Climate change affects retirement planning by increasing uncertainty across finances, housing, and healthcare. It can reduce investment returns, raise insurance and housing costs, and disrupt access to medical care.
These risks are interconnected, meaning a single climate event can impact multiple aspects of retirement security.
As a result, effective planning requires diversification, geographic risk awareness, and resilience strategies.

AWARD WINNERS

Retirement Under the Eternal Blue Sky: Nest Eggs or Lifeboats? Financial, Housing, and Health Strategies
Syed Danish Ali, CSPA

Climate Risk: Catastrophe Planning and Financial Modeling for Retirement
Abby Cohen and Laurie Winters

Will Climate Risk Have an Overall Positive or Negative Impact on Future Retirement Investments, or Will It Be Mixed with both Winners and Losers?
Xinyi (Cindy) Hu, ASA, MAAA

Climate Events and Healthcare Continuity: Medicare Plan Variations and Economic Impacts
Robert Lieberthal, Ph.D. and Ferdouz Cochrane, Ph.D.

Remaining Essay

Retirement on Shifting Sands: Navigating Climate Change’s Hidden Threats to Your Golden Years
Niranjan Rajendran, B.Sc.

Suggested Citations

Ali, Syed Danish. Retirement Under the Eternal Blue Sky: Nest Eggs or Lifeboats? Financial, Housing, and Health Strategies. Society of Actuaries Research Institute, March 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/climate-risk-retirement-essays/

Cohen, Abby and Laurie Winters. Climate Risk: Catastrophe Planning and Financial Modeling for Retirement. Society of Actuaries Research Institute, March 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/climate-risk-retirement-essays/

Hu, Xinyi (Cindy). Will Climate Risk Have an Overall Positive or Negative Impact on Future Retirement Investments, or Will It Be Mixed with Both Winners and Losers? Society of Actuaries Research Institute, March 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/climate-risk-retirement-essays/

Lieberthal, Robert D., and Ferdouz Cochrane. Climate Events and Healthcare Continuity: Medicare Plan Variations and Economic Impacts. Society of Actuaries Research Institute, March 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/climate-risk-retirement-essays/

Rajendran, Niranjan. Retirement on Shifting Sands: Navigating Climate Change’s Hidden Threats to Your Golden Years. Society of Actuaries Research Institute, March 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/climate-risk-retirement-essays/

Society of Actuaries Research Institute. Impact of Climate Change Risk on Retirement: A Collection of Essays. Society of Actuaries Research Institute, March 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/climate-risk-retirement-essays/

Acknowledgements

The SOA Research Institute Aging & Retirement Strategic Research Program and the Catastrophe & Climate Strategic Research Program thank the Project Oversight Group (POG) for their careful review and judging of the submitted essays. Any views and ideas expressed in the essays are the authors’ alone and may not reflect the POG’s views and ideas nor those of their employers, the authors’ employers, the Society of Actuaries, the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, nor Society of Actuaries members.

Steve Bowen
Bronwyn Claire
John Cutler
Andrea Sellars

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