My passion is to help people and institutions navigate the choppy seas ahead in retirement planning.Achieving economic security in old age is truly challenging and consequential. It forces us to tackle the "dark forces'' of time and ignorance (as famously stated by Keynes in chpt 12 of his General Theory). We have repeatedly revealed ourselves as poorly equipped to deal with long term planning and now things are getting worse (as traditional pension institutions are shying away from managing pension risks and population aging spells worldwide macroeconomic turbulence).My training for this task started with and enjoyable academic career. It is in the daily interaction with your colleagues and your students that you progressively familiarize with the techniques, the data and the vast body of previous knowledge. Eventually, you develop your own personal style to approach, model, and simulate questions, and to interpret and communicate your findings. Nearly a dozen academic publications testify my personal evolution. They focus on life cycle savings/investing/retirement behavior by households and the aggregate modeling of PAYG pension systems. Dynamic programming, numerical general equilibrium and a wide range of econometric techniques are my favorite tools.The crisis that started in 2007 shattered my placid academic life and rekindled my interest in real world affairs. To bridge the gap between my academic background and the world of professional finance, I became a CFA candidate in 2010. Thanks to its all-encompassing curriculum of financial markets, institutions, products and ethics I feel now prepared to jump to a full-time professional life. I could contribute in areas like life-cyle product design, strategic analysis (macro & demographic trends), investment management and financial planning. The life insurance industry is of particular interest to me, as insurers look like the "last man standing" in the effort to provide individuals with long-term security.