Retirement saving and the payout phase : How to get there and how to get the most of it In the wake of a dramatic financial crisis and with the first waves of baby boomers approaching retirement we hardly need to think about how best to arrive at the pension funds payout phase. This paper argues that there is an urgent need to raise retirement saving to reduce defined contribution plan members exposure to investment risks and to provide the financial industry with cheap and safe payout instruments. These challenges are also likely to call for a more active government role.