As the national debate hots up, this Sessional Meeting is being devoted to the following important topics, which affect life, pensions and investment actuaries:

— What should be the role of the State as pension provider — safety net or income replacement?

— Should the State Pension Age be raised? If so, when and by how much?

— Should the United Kingdom adopt a Citizen's Pension and scrap the State Second Pension and contracting out?

— Should there be more compulsory savings for retirement? If not, how can a voluntarist system be made to work better?

— What is the role for equity release?

— How can consumers become better educated in financial matters, and what role can actuaries play in helping to achieve improved levels of financial literacy?

These, and many other, challenging questions will be discussed.