Description: Notes that the current retirement system does not assure that everyone will retire with adequate retirement income, and provides arguments in favor of employers being required to provide pension plans.

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: A discussion of regulatory considerations for pension plans considering the use of longevity risk hedging contracts in Canada.

Description: This session discussion is a review proposals to modify the plan termination provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Current projections of the corporate funding problems and the alternatives under consideration will be included. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 14, No. 1.

Description: An article summarizing the testimony of Ron Gebhardtsbauer of the American Academy of Actuaries to the Department of Labor regarding disclosure rules to employees for pension plan changes. From Pension Section News, June 1999, Issue No. 40.

Description: This articles lists the 2003 updated annual amounts for federal agencies and programs that affect pension programs.

Description: The U.S. Internal Revenue Code prohibits qualified pension and profit sharing plans from discriminating in favor of highly compensated employees. It states that a plan is not discriminatory merely because contributions or benefits are a uniform percentage of pay. In addition, the code allows some disparity between highly compensated employees and other employees with respect to their contributions or benefits as a percentage of pay.

Description: This presentation is a Pension Section meeting from the 1991 Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held June 3-5 in Colorado Springs. The speaker discusses insurer solvency issues for pension actuaries, focusing on the failure of Executive Life and the implications for its significant amount of pension business. Topics include the tax claims of the Internal Revenue Service, and role and potential liability of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC], state guaranty funds, and reinsurers. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 17, No. 3B.

Description: A new mortality valuation standard, the 1994 Group Annuity Reserve Table, is being proposed for new group pension business. This article discusses the industry concerns with the change from a static table to a generational table based upon mortality improvement factors.

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.