Description: This is the second of three articles. The first April issue told how the 1973 Experience Table was constructed. Outlined here are two steps: i projecting the values in the 1973 Experience Table to produce the 1983 Basic Table, and ii reducing the 1983 Basic Table q's to arrive at the recommended annuity valuation table called the 1983 Table a.

Description: This article summarizes the results of the first part of a U.S. Appointed Actuaries survey asking about the usefulness of the various documents that have been created to guide valuation actuaries.

Description: The book, 'Individual Accounts for Social Perspectives on the U.S. Debate' by John Turner, is reviewed in light of recent congressional failure to reform Social Security and in light of a survey of actuaries that produced divergent views on the subject [link to survey included].

Description: This brief article notes that in a recent decision the U.S. Supreme Court touched on a fundamental issue of employee benefits philosophy, in holding that defined benefit pension plans must grant benefit accrual credit for periods of military service. The author argues that this seems contrary to current attitudes.

Description: This is the second article in a four–part series. In this article, the industry's products are examined.

Description: This article discusses the U.S. military retirement system, an unfunded non-contributory defined-benefit plan, and the legislative proposal that would convert the system to an entry-age-normal funding method.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 1. This article discusses the impact of a change in procedure in the financing of the US Military Retirement System. The change requires amortizing the past service liability. The impact will depend upon whether the amortization is achieved by increasing current taxes and decreasing the current deficit, or by merely increasing the national debt and leaving the current deficit unchanged. The author asserts that the new financing method will not weaken the financial condition of the military retirement system, and that it has the potential to strengthen its financial condition if the funding of the past service liability is handled appropriately.

Description: This is a graph from an article in The Actuary Magazine entitlled A Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Life Insurance Industry Part II: Products.

Description: This article discusses what the U.S. Census Bureau has to offer. The information includes surveys on population, housing, income, expenditures, crime and health. In addition, it includes censuses and surveys of most U.S. businesses.

Description: This article summarizes the changes in the rules for discipline of U.S. actuaries, which were recently updated, detailed, and clarified through the revision of Article X of the American Academy of Actuaries’ bylaws.