Description: This paper is part of The research project dealing with pension accounting, more precisely with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 87 [or FAS 87]. The goal of the project is to study the variability of pension accounting costs under FAS 87. In this paper, the author addresses only one specific point, namely the behavior of experience gains and losses over time. This is directly related to the corridor approach to amortization of gains and losses. However, what is said also applies to experience gains and losses in other areas, particularly in pension funding and insurance. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1993, Vol. 1.

Description: This paper describes a new approach of calculating duration by taking a portfolio perspective utilizing the idea of internal rate of return. It is presumed the user has a model for projecting cash flows under different interest rate scenarios and knows the current market value of the portfolio. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1993, VOL. 3.

Description: Letters to the national association of insurance commissioners life/health actuarial task force regarding the development of the new annuity non-forfeiture law. Letters are addressed to Mr. Howard Kayton, Mr. Allan Roby, and Mr. John Montgomery. Also included is a demonstration of the workings of a two tiered annuity.

Description: Two-dimensional data can be smoothed by minimizing a combination of the sum of weighted absolute deviations from initial estimates and the sums of absolute values of differences in the two directions. This paper discusses the techniques of parametric programming which make it feasible to explore the different results obtained by varying the emphasis given to fit versus smoothness. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1994, VOL. 1.

Description: This paper analyzes the U. S. Treasury monthly interest rates from 1953 to 1992, and the daily rates from 1981 to 1992 for various forms of chaotic behavior. The primary analysis was in determining the Burst Exponent by the use of Rescaled Range Analysis. This paper also discusses other possible uses of Fractional Brownian Motion in Finance Theory, Macroeconomics, and Actuarial Science. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1994 VOL. 1.

Description: Public policy makers acknowledge that there exist significant tax incentives for the use of Registered/Qualified Pension Plans and RRSP's/lRA's. This is the abstract of a paper that first analyzes these tax advantages as to the component source, i.e., how much of the advantage can be attributed to the tax deductibility of contributions and how much is because of the non-taxation of the investment income until taken. The paper then attempts to determine and illustrate whether or not these elements of tax assistance should be viewed as tax deferral or tax waiver. The analysis shows that any tax advantages associated with the deductibility of contributions is only tax deferral. However, the paper proves that there is a permanent loss to the taxpayers associated with the non-taxation of earned investment income until taken which should be viewed as a tax subsidy or tax waiver. The paper ends with a short discussion of the public policy issues raised by these findings. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1994, Vol. 1.

Description: Abstract for the paper which gives a unified approach to modern credibility models by using the theory of estimating functions.

Description: This is an abstract of the paper A Second Order SDE for the Force of Interest. In this paper, the author models the force of interest by a linear second order stochastic differential equation.

Description: Shapiro 1990 documented some of the criteria used by actuaries when selecting the assumptions for actuarial valuations. He noted, however, that many of these criteria are often were in conflict with one another. This paper uses expected utility theory to model this process of choosing actuarial assumption when faced with potentially conflicting criteria. The three criteria considered are prudence, best estimate and conservativeness.

Description: The study of Employee Benefits has always been aided by using financial algorithms. During recent semesters, the Lotus 1-2-3 package Lotus has been introduced to students due to the explosion of its use in the business community. This paper will show how our students use Lotus to design a spreadsheet for computing minimum annual distributions from tax-sheltered plans.