Description: This article encourages pension actuaries to read a 16-page paper, available on the Internet from the National Commission on Retirement Policy, regarding the challenges of the next decade on how to put federal programs for senior citizens on a sound financial footing.

Description: Estimates under Alternative II Assumption for Aged and Disabled Excluding End-Stage Renal Disease Enrollees from Pension Section News, November 1998, Issue No. 38.

Description: Longevity insurance benefits are deferred annuities that begin payment at advanced older ages, such as at age 82. With a longevity insurance benefit, the problem of asset decumulation with uncertain life expectancy is simplified. Instead of planning for an uncertain period, retirees can plan for the fixed period from the date of their retirement to the date at which they start receiving the longevity insurance benefit. Originally, Social Security was structured as a longevity insurance benefit program, with roughly 50 percent of those entering the workforce surviving to receive the benefits. Over time, however, as life expectancy has improved, Social Security benefits have slowly transformed into benefits that most people entering the work force ultimately receive. While adding longevity insurance as a new benefit when Social Security is already facing a financing deficit would be problematic, reintroduction of a longevity insurance benefit a s part of Social Security reform package that involved benefit cuts could be an important policy innovation.

Description: This article shows the detailed calculation of the PIA for maximum earners who retire in January 1998. From Pension Section News, April 1998, Issue No. 36.

Description: HI Trust Fund: Actuarial Methodology and Principal Assumptions from Pension Section News, November 1998, Issue No. 38.

Description: The 1999 Technical Panel on Assumptions and Methods by Edward W. Frees from Pension Section News, March 2000, Issue No. 42.

Description: This article reveals the results of a survey by the Pension Section Research Team showing that U.S. Social Security reform is a diverse issue for actuaries. From Pension Section News, April 2006, No. 61.