Description: This paper develops a family of accrued benefit actuarial cost methods which permits the purchase of retirement income at either an accelerating or decelerating rate. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1967, Vol. 19, Pt. 1, No. 54.

Description: Eric Friedman’s comments on ‘The Case for Stochastic Present Values,” by Dimitry Mindlin

Description: The current financial model put forth as the market value of public sector pension benefit liabilities is simply the expected cash flows of the accumulated benefit obligation, as defined for current private sector financial reporting, discounted using a risk-free yield curve. This model is in serious need of an overhaul. This monograph addresses this issue.

Description: A common approach to estimating the total amount of savings required to fund retirement is to first apply a generic “replacement rate” to pre-retirement income, such as 80%, to get the desired retirement income need. That need is then assumed to increase annually at the rate of inflation for the duration of retirement, which is generally assumed to be some fixed period, such as 30 years. Using government data along with a fairly simple market and mortality model, we explore these assumptions to more accurately estimate the true cost of retirement

Description: This article describes behavioral finance and its relevance in identifying analytics and processes suitable for a control environment for the actuarial aspects of an insurance company.

Description: This panel discussion examines the valuation problems, funding methods, valuing ancillary benefits, and fluctuations in experience of small pension plans.

Description: Panelists discuss current pension issues and ways in which the modeling process can be used to assist plan sponsors in addressing those issues. From the 1988 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 14, No. 1.

Description: Review of Fifty-Second Annual Report of the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System. The authors found it to be a concise well written report discussing a number of issues facing all pensions in an inflationary economy. Both the title and the dull format in the usual Government Printing Office style would seem to insure this document's instantaneous consignment to dead storage. However, behind the cover of this small pamphlet is a concise, well written report discussing-a-number of the issues facing not only federal pension programs at the present time, but all pensions in an inflationary economy. For example, several of the 11 pages devoted to the main report discuss the implications of static assumptions ignoring inflation as opposed to dynamic assumptions including inflation.

Description: A response to American Legislative Exchange Council's report "Unaccountable and Unaffordable" in light of applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice.

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.