Mortality Improvement Scale MP-2014

Experience Studies – Pension

The Society of Actuaries' (SOA’s) Retirement Plans Experience Committee (RPEC) has released the final report of the Mortality Improvement Scale MP-2014 (MP-2014). This report, along with its companion document, the Society of Actuaries’ RP-2014 Mortality Tables Report, establishes a new basis for mortality assumptions for retirement programs in the United States. These two reports represent the culmination of a comprehensive study of uninsured retirement plan mortality experience begun by the RPEC in late 2009. At right under ‘Related Links’, an Excel version of Scale MP-2014 has been posted to accompany the Scale MP-2014 Report.

RPEC released an exposure draft of this report in February 2014 and solicited comments on it through the end of May 2014. A summary of those comments and RPEC’s response to them, as well as the original exposure draft, can be found under ‘Related Links’.

The Scale MP-2014 Report describes the RPEC_2014 model, upon which Scale MP-2014 was based. The report also discusses the method by which a user can create mortality projection scales with alternate assumption sets using this model. An Excel-based implementation tool has been created to assist users in creating such alternate improvement scales with the RPEC_2014 model, and this can be found under ‘Related Links’.

Section 8.2 of the Scale MP-2014 Report discusses an Excel-based tool that can be used to calculate one-dimensional improvement scales that approximate Scale MP-2014. Please see the ‘2D to 1D Conversion Tool’ item under ‘Related Links’. Prior to use of this tool, users should thoroughly understand the limitations described in Section 8.2 of the Scale MP-2014 Report and the “Describe” tab of the tool itself.

The final item under ‘Related Links’ is a link to the final RP-2014 Mortality Tables Report and supplementary information.