Immortality- disagreeable future for Insurance industry?
The noted futurist Ray Kurzweil continues to expound his vision of human immortality - though his 20-year timeframe for achieving it does not seem to have moved forward in the last 4 years. Given his commendable achievements and awards starting with his college days at MIT, his views continue to attract the attention of the world media with multiple reports in the past week.
While there are innumerable implications for immortality as a possibility that touches almost all aspects of the economy (almost a “Human Society 2.0”), it is intriguing to consider the implication for the life & annuity insurance industry where the fundamental premise is the mortality of humans and the investment needs to plan for a limited, yet uncertain “retirement” period. If risk of death were to be substantially eliminated, the miniscule premiums for life insurance would probably render the core purpose of the product as an unworthy enterprise and shift the focus entirely to the understated competency of investment management. On that front, the current retirement planning buzzword would need to transform its tagline to planning for not one, but periodic “retirement” periods wherein an individual would recharge his energies and consider newer frontiers within an immortal lifetime!
