Description: This paper is a follow-up to the papers in the January and April 2005 editions of the Pension Forum, which focused on the interest assumptions to be used in pension funding. This paper focuses on the other assumptions used to calculate pension liabilities—mortality, early retirement and expense. From Pension Section News, April 2006, No. 61.

Description: Kevin Binder, chair of the Pension Section Research Team, shares a summary of two recently completed projects that are now posted on the SOA website.The first topic is on the drawing down of retirement savings and the second is on the valuation of pension plan embedded options. From Pension Section News, October 2011, Issue No. 75.

Description: This articles features three study notes for used for the Retirement Benefits course 8 exam: Current Issues in Social Security by Steven McKay Mortality Tables for Pension Plans by D. Grubbs and M. Oliver and Valuation of Pension Benefits for Disabled participants by Edward Sypher

Description: This article discusses that mortality tables should reflect improving mortality. The Group Annuity Mortality table GAM-83 is probably the most common table used by pension actuaries—75 percent of the plans in Watson Wyatt’s “2003 Survey of Actuarial Assumptions and Funding” use GAM-83 for funding calculations. However, there are three more recently published tables that warrant consideration for use in pension valuations: UP-94, GAM-94 and RP-2000. From Pension Section News, January 2006, No. 60.

Description: This article analyzes and confirms the circumstances where a change in the mortality assumption does and does not have a significant impact on pension valuations.

Description: An article that highlights the paper Retirement Trends and Patterns in the 1990s: The End of an Era? The trend toward earlier retirement is documented and the influences of a possible shift in this trend are considered. From the Pension Section News, August 1998.

Description: Capital Market Assumptions—The Past Performance Future Returns Debate by Jane Arnold and Jennifer Donnelly from Pension Section News, November 1998, Issue No. 38.

Description: Part 2 of an article which presents simplified problem and and presented alternate models. Answers are presented in this article. The author's final question is: If traditional actuarial models stumble over these issues, can we get it right for real world funding pension plans and funding practices?

Description: This article announces the availability and provides an overview of the Study Note for Course P–461U-Valuation of Pension Benefits for Disabled Participants. From Pension Section News, April 1998, Issue No. 36.

Description: This is a summary of a new research paper entitled: “Determining Discount Rates Required to Fund Defined Benefit Plans” by John Turner and three other economists, which describes a new way to look at pension funding for ongoing plans that is a variant of using expected returns (currently used in public plans) that takes into account the risk that contributions will be needed in the future for this year’s benefit accruals.