Description: This paper examines the valuation of assets and poses the following questions: A. What bases, other than cost or market, are in use for valuing pension trust assets and acceptable under the Internal Revenue Code and Rulings? and B. How can a retirement plan having assets valued on a book or cost basis utilize existing unrealized appreciation for purposes of improving benefits or reducing current funding costs without changing to a market value basis? From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1961, Vol. 13, Pt. 2.

Description: Discussion of the use of traditional individual insurance products for pension plans of employers with small numbers of employees. Also discusses the new products in use, or under development for such plans. Also discusses the pros and cons of shifting individual policy funded plans to some other basis when the number of participants becomes larger. Finally, a discussion of products and methods under development in contemplation of enactment of a Keogh-type bill to provide retirement benefits for the self-employed?

Description: Book review of The Fundamentals of Pension Mathematics by Barnet E. Barin. Mr. Griffin supports the text as a valuable contribution in particular his analysis of gains/losses by source during the transition to utilizing computers for pension valuation.

Description: This discussion is about problems that encounter when seeking general acceptable criteria for minimum sound funding. From Transaction of Society of Actuaries 1961 - vol. 13 pt 2

Description: This is a discussion about employee benefit plans after retirement. The following questions are addressed: 1. To what extent are death benefits and medical benefits for employees and dependents kept in force after the employee retires?, 2. Where there is a continuation of such benefits for a retired employee or his dependent, what special problems can result from remarriage or reemployment, or in the event of the enactment of a federal plan?, 3. What methods of paying for or funding such costs are used?, and 4. What are the tax implications to both the employee and employer of the various approaches? Also discussed are insured vs. non-insured plans and valuation standards for pension plans. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1964, Vol. 16 Pt. 2.

Description: Discusses relationships with clients: fees and billing methods, communications with clients, responsibility of initiating work when on retainer, special problems with insurer clients, special problems with collectively bargained pension and welfare plans, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality.

Description: These are the reports of the following committees: the Committee to Study Pension Plan Problems, the Committee to Study Pension Accounting, the Educations and Examination Committee, the Committee on Professional Conduct, the Committee on Status and Accreditation and a report on 'The Actuary'. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1967, Vol. 19 Pt. 2, No 53.

Description: This article is a review and analysis of the article “The Statistician as Expert Witness,” by Joseph G. Van Matre and William N. Clark, from the Feb. 1976 issue of “The American Statistician.” The author of this article notes that the article he is reviewing has general application to anyone serving as an expert witness in a court of law, especially in its remarks about the ethical responsibilities of such a person and in its advice on preparing to give testimony. Written from the viewpoint of a statistician, it has equal applicability to an actuary serving as an expert witness. The SOA has reprinted this article with permission from The American Statistical Association.

Description: The premise underlying the method illustrated is simply that, in a suit for damages based on earnings lost by reason of premature death or permanent disability, the value of future earnings should not be measured in terms of the whole of life but rather in terms of a more realistic work life expectancy.