Description: This session from the 1983 SOA Vancouver Meeting looks at the use of variable economic assumptions for pension plans including variable investment returns, variable pay increase assumptions and the amortization of the unfunded actuarial liability. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 9, No. 3.

Description: This session from the 1984 SOA Atlanta Meeting covers the long-term future of retirement programs including trends in plan design, changing patterns in the work force, impact of regulation and the role of Social Security.

Description: Discussion of the ways the volatility of the full funding limitation can be used as a consulting opportunity. Discussion of smoothing cash flow in the current regulatory environment and cash-flow forecasting in a volatile market.

Description: This session from the 1995 SOA Vancouver Meeting focuses on the equation of balance and how different pieces of the funding standard account FSA and the unfunded accrued liability UAL are tied together. It also looks at the charges and credits that flow through the FSA from the General Agreement on Terriffs and Trades 'GATT'. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 3b.

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.

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

Description: Article, written by the Economist and Director of the Research Department of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, discusses the nature and quality of the CPI and the use of it to adjust pension benefits.

Description: This article describes the Joint and Survivor Factor. In defined benefit plans, ERISA requires that the normal form of the pension must be on a qualified joint and survivor basis. If the plan defines the pension in terms of a lifetime pension to the participant only, the lifetime pension must be multiplied by the joint and survivor factor. This article shows what happens to the factor as the interest rate increases.

Description: This is a panel discussion about how frequently actuarial valuations should be made of trusteed pension plans and deposit administration plans. Also discussed is what government regulations require as to reports on such plans. From Transaction of Society of Actuaries 1959, Vol. 11, No. 29 AB.

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.