Description: There is growing evidence of a positive correlation between income levels and longevity. In short, high-income earners live longer. That also means that high-income earners get larger retirement-income security benefits from Social Security. This correlation raises a number of questions: if Social Security contributions are a level percentage of earnings, and high-income earners live longer and receive larger Social Security benefits, then is Social Security regressive? If higher-income actually causes enhanced longevity, then would providing more Social Security benefits enhance population life expectancy? This paper analyzes both the OASDI system of the United States and the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans in Canada to see if these systems are 'a good deal' and whether they are regressive or progressive as defined above. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1998 Vol. 1.

Description: In Canada, there are three main sources of government-provided retirement income: 1. The Canada/Quebec Pension Plan [C/QPP], which have benefits and contributions based on earnings up to the Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings, 2. Old Age Security [OAS], which is a fixed amount for most but does include a 'clawback' of benefits for high-income individuals, and 3. The Guaranteed Income Supplement [GIS], which is designed to supplement those with extremely low income. The annual GIS benefit is reduced, or clawed back, by 50 cents for every dollar of annual income the person has in retirement, including C/QPP and income from Registered Retirement Savings Plans [RRSP] and other savings. OAS benefits are not included in determining the GIS clawback. The result of this is that low-income individuals who attempt to enhance their retirement replacement ratio actually see a decrease in government-provided support the more they save for retirement. In fact, savings in an RRSP can effectively be taxed at more than 100% through corresponding reductions in the GIS, social housing, home care, GAINS [Ontario's Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement], and other benefits which are based on one's personal retirement income. This paper explores a basic GIS exemption, a GIS clawback rate of lower than 50%, and various combinations of the two as alternative policies for the GIS. The goal is to improve the fairness of the GIS and reduce the disincentive to save for retirement, without increasing the overall cost of the program significantly.

Description: The projection methods used by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Chief Actuary are important. The resulting projections are cited regularly by policy-makers, academics and others interested in the long-term financial solvency of the OASDI system. However, a complete description of this projection methodology that is vital for serious policy discussions is not available to the general public. This summary was constructed in connection with the Social Security Advisory Board's 1999 Technical Panel on Methods and Assumptions. A goal of the Methods and Modeling working group of the Technical Panel was to 'work to ensure that the projection methods used by the Office of the Chief Actuary become more public.' From Actuarial Research Clearing House 2000, Vol. 1.

Description: This paper describes an actuarial model that was developed to answer the question of whether employees are projected to get their money's worth out of participating in the Society Security system, determined by comparing the expected present value of benefits to projected value of taxes. This question is discussed with reference to 1. a single worker, 2. a married worker with a non working spouse and 3. a two-wage-earner family.

Description: These are discussion papers on the paper, 'The 1952 Amendments to the Social Security Act' by Robert J. Myers.

Description: This paper suggests that a mixture of pay-as-you-go and reserve financing would help Taiwan's troubled social security program. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 2009, Vol 2.

Description: Sets forth the history of the actuarial responsibilities for the Social Security System since the Act of 1935.

Description: This paper discusses the reasons why universal coverage of social security is desirable and the methods by which it could be achieved. The paper also covers an alternative approach to solving the financial problems without universal coverage. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1979, Vol. 31.

Description: The paper reviews in detail the measures of actuarial status used for the social security program since the program was developed in the middle 1930s. The paper concludes with suggestions by the author concerning appropriate measures of actuarial status for social security in the future. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1981, Vol. 33.

Description: This paper presents an analysis of whether workers get their 'money's worth' from the taxes they pay under the U.S. Social Security program. The cash retirement benefits for various cases of workers who have attained age 65 in different years and at different earnings levels is explored. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1983, Vol. 35.