King William's Tontine
Why the Retirement Annuity of the Future Should Resemble its Past

The book reviews the finance, economics, and history of tontines, and argues that they should be resurrected in the twenty-first century.

Moshe A. Milevsky (Author)

9781107076129, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 April 2015

274 pages, 15 b/w illus.
23.1 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'When all is said and done King William's Tontine is a well?written, exceptionally well researched, easily comprehendible, entertaining and insightful romp through the history of tontines. Policymakers, academics, actuaries, financial professionals, and students alike all can enjoy this Milevsky book, without the need for or burden of heavily detailed mathematical formulae and/or proofs - which certainly is a welcome, deep breath of fresh air lost in most academic works today. God save King Billy's tontine!' William L. Ferguson, The Journal of Risk and Insurance

In a time before bonds, treasury notes, or central banks, there were tontines. These were schemes in which a group of investors lent money to a government, corporation, or king, similar to a modern-day loan syndicate. But unlike conventional debt, periodic interest payments were distributed only to survivors. As tontine nominees died, the income of survivors correspondingly increased. Morbid, perhaps, but this was one of the earliest forms of longevity insurance in which the pool shared the risk. Moshe A. Milevsky tells the story of the first tontine issued by the English government in 1693, known as King William's tontine, intended to finance the war against French King Louis XIV. He explains how tontines work, the financial and economic thinking behind them, as well as why they fell into disrepute. Milevsky concludes with a provocative argument that suitably modified tontines should be resurrected for twenty-first-century retirement income planning.

1. King Billy, Protestant hero of England
2. Tontine's economic origins: cheaper debt
3. A most curious Will(iam) and older than you think
4. The million act to fight a war against France
5. Don't Englishmen die? Anti-selection vs fraud
6. Is your tontine a stock or a bond?
7. Optimal tontine: hedging (some) longevity risk
8. Conclusion: tontines for the twenty-first century.

Subject Areas: Finance [KFF], Economic history [KCZ], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], British & Irish history [HBJD1]