Description: Paper that explores some characteristics of pension plans that affect the type and amount of investment risk a government-sponsored pension plan can afford.

Description: Sound and Workable Pension Actuarial, Accounting, and Funding Approaches for those Interested in the Health of Public and Private DB Plans – Discussant Comments

Description: Article from The Actuary, September 1989 – Volume 23, No. 8 summarizing the 1989 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance OASDI Trust Funds usually referred to as the 1989 OASDI Trustees Report released in April 1989.

Description: Summary of the annual cost-of-living adjustment and changes in other wage-indexed programs parameters for Social Security in 2024.

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 paper describes the impact of inflation on the design, reporting, and actuarial analysis of the federal retirement programs for civilian employees and military personnel. The impact of inflation on these programs is of interest not only because federal annuity payments are a large portion of the federal budget, but also because the annuities have been fully indexed since 1963 and have gone through many of the design and valuation problems that would be experienced by other fully indexed pension systems. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1982, Vol. 34.

Description: Personal highlights of a pension actuary's 10 years with the U.S. Social Security Administration and Senate staff, applying his experience and skills to emerging issues. He recommended that the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees use index funds for common stocks, giving employees an attractive way to invest while keeping politics out of stock selection.

Description: Brief description of articles contained in the newsletter.

Description: A discussion of a the Colombian Army Forces pension plan model.

Description: Abstract of a paper examining the degree to which certain actuarial methods satisfy public pension plan funding objectives.