Description: Through a review of legislative and policy provisions, this paper highlights national differences in retirement policy and identifies alternative retirement policy strategies. The countries studied are France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. In addition to the traditional tools of retirement policy, normal, deferred and early retirement, other areas of policy with a potential impact on retirement are studied. Data on retirement experience also are presented and discussed. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1993, Vol. 45.

Description: In 1995, Mexico replaced the public pay-as-you-go system by a privately managed system based on individual accounts. This paper analyzes the causes that made necessary the reform of the old Mexican pay-as-you-go pension system. A description of the modifications and current situation of the pension system also are discussed. The paper concludes that although the pension system has been modified during the last few years, there are still some weaknesses that have to be corrected to provide an appropriate retirement benefit to workers.

Description: There is no silver bullet to improving retirement income outcomes for retirees. However, a combination of changes can be of significant value in addressing this overlooked issue. Although QLACs on the surface have potential value, they are not nearly as efficient as they could be. So far, employer plans have provided limited options for retirement income solutions. IRAs may not cost effectively serve the best interest of retirees. Employer plans should be encouraged to become retirement income providers and alternative approaches should be considered. The current prohibition on allowing plans to modify benefit payouts based on mortality experience should be reconsidered to allow for innovative plan income designs. Improvements to the deaccumulation stage of the retiree nest egg are challenging yet necessary.

Description: This presentation made at the SOA 1975 New York meeting highlights the passage of ERISA and points up the desirability of formulating principles and practices for pension plan construction and valuation. A committee of the American Academy of Actuaries is in the process of developing principles and practices.

Description: Mexico substituted its defined benefit system [IMSS] of the formal sector by a defined contribution system in 1997. The initial plan called for buying single premium annuities for the widows and disabled workers under the new system. In the first three years, this market came to occupy a significant part of the insurance sector. Then, the number of workers getting benefits started to fall dramatically. This is the abstract of a paper that shows that such a fall has been a direct result of how the IMSS authorizes the issuance of single premium annuities. The paper analyses the rationale behind such a dramatic change in policy, analyzes various possible scenarios of IMSS strategies, and examines the problem to see if it brings in any long-term benefits to IMSS.

Description: Chapter 1 describes important changes in Mexico in the 1990s such as re-privatization of banks, relaxed financial regulation, membership in NAFTA and OECD, and political change at the federal level. From Retrospective and Perspective Analysis of the Privatized Mandatory Pension System in Mexico, M-RS02-1.

Description: This discussion on retirement plans for the self-employed reviews encouragement given to plans through tax relief resulting in their more widespread use in Canada and Great Britain as well as the outlook for similar legislation in the United States. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1957, Vol. 9, No. 25.

Description: The title for this session is a little ambiguous. The panelists do not say much about the ins and outs of how to tax retirement income plans. Rather, they talk about why tax policy works as it does and how it relates to pension policy. It becomes evident from the discussion that pension policy and tax policy are hard to separate. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 17, No. 3B.

Description: This panel discussion, which occurred at the October 1982 Society of Actuaries Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., presented a discussion on the integration of pension plans with Social Security. The discussion included: Current integration requirements - what is and what might be, problems with the current rules - need for change, or not the recent proposal by Congress to redesign integration rules, practitioners' proposals to revise integration rules - in light of recent activity in Congress, and the next steps - better or worse?

Description: This session discussion is about eligibility, coverage , participation rules under TRA 86, review and effects of the proposed Reg. 1.401a2b and Reg. 1.410b. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 15, No. 3A.