Description: 1992 SOA Regional Meeting, Chicago. This session was about the impact of pension plan design on investment strategy. The speakers covered a broad philosophical basis, the nuts and bolts of particular pension plan provisions in a defined-benefit area, and executive benefits.

Description: In the United States and in Canada, certain legislative developments have been concerned with providing retirement benefit credits to employees who work beyond normal retirement. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical guide for actuaries to estimate the effect that delaying retirement beyond age 65 has on the cost of a pension plan. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1983, Vol. 35.

Description: Symposium session on Emerging Definitions of Retirement.

Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.

Description: The article describes the factors that should determine the asset allocation of an employer's QDIA, especially Target Date Funds, and suggests that in general QDIAs have insufficient equity in retirement asset allocations.

Description: Review of paper describing Collective Defined Contribution Plans. the elimination of traditional pensions by many companies have left employees without easy access to reliable retirement income Collective Defined Contribution plans which are used to a small extent in the US but more broadly used elsewhere offer an option for consideration.

Description: This paper discusses the reasons for the trend toward phased retirement and looks at the legal and actuarial aspects of phased retirement as they apply to a simple defined-benefit plan. It is important for US pension law to be modified to facilitate phased retirement and include safeguards to protect workers as they make these lifetime decisions. From the Retirement Implications of Demographic and Family Change Symposium, June 2002.

Description: This paper looks at the actuarial implications of a gradual retirement scheme from the employer's point of view in terms of the normal cost and also from the employee's side, the total income he would receive under various gradual retirement scenarios.

Description: This article, another in the popular series devoted to tax basics, provides an overview of how the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the law governing employment-based retirement and health plans, impacts the use of annuities in pension and 401(k) plans. The article explains which types of plans are subject to ERISA, and which are not; why the concept of "plan assets" is critical; what duties an insurance company or distributor might take on when an annuity is placed with a retirement plan; and finally what disclosures may be required. The article also includes a brief introduction to terminal funding annuities. This article is intended for those with no prior experience in ERISA. Because the vast majority of retirement assets are saved originally in employment based plans like pension and 401(k) plans, understanding the basics of ERISA is important for anyone who will have a career in annuities and life insurance.

Description: This article provides a basic introduction to the taxation of qualified annuities held in qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The article has been updated for the SECURE Act and the SECURE 2.0 Act. The article describes the basic types of employer-based plans, provides of overview of the taxation of contributions and benefits when annuities are held in connection with plans and IRAs, explains the required minimum distribution rules, and offers a brief introduction to recent legislation impacting qualified annuities.