Description: The subject of this brief article is “Individual Retirement Accounts, Actuarial Note No. 1-77, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board,” which summarizes the principal eligibility conditions for individual retirement accounts under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 including the liberalizations under the Tax Reform Act of 1976.

Description: Article from The Actuary, June 1972 – volume 6 - Issue 6 provides an excerpt from a talk given at the New Orleans meeting on pensions and future change.

Description: Review of the Third Edition of Fundamentals of Private Pensions by Dr. Dan M. McGill by Donald Gubbs. The most comprehensive text yet on the subject of pension plans. This new Edition covers the wide variety of developments within the last 10 years, as well as the sweeping changes brought about by the passage of ERISA and also shows a deeper exploration of many of the fundamentals of private pensions.

Description: This is a discussion of the Life–Cycle Model, findings from behavioral finance, managing risks post–retirement, the role of government, software and some perspectives on the future.

Description: In this article the author discusses the role pension actuaries should take regarding retirement security. She exhorts members to go beyond their professional requirements and find ways to help create a more secure retirement for citizens. From: The Actuary, February 2000, volume 34, issue 2.

Description: This article from The Actuary, May 1972 – Volume 6, provides references to three notes: 1. Benefit Loads in Relation to Coverage and Reserves for Railroad Retirement and Other Major Retirement and Social Insurance Plans. 2. Two Decades oj Employee Benefit Plans, 1950- 70. 3. Social Security Programs throughout the World.

Description: This 1981 article is a discussion of pension reform in Canada, noting that in the last four years there have five government-commissioned studies, resulting in various recommendations covering government and private sector plans. There was consensus on several conclusions - namely that there is too much poverty among the elderly, particularly women, current vesting and portability rules hurt mobile workers, and inflation needs to be addressed.

Description: Actuary readers are familiar with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which was established under ERISA in 1974 to administer the benefits of terminated employee pension plans in the United States and to operate an “insurance” plan intended to protect the benefits of participants in such plans from inadequate funding. This article explains similar programs in Germany and Canada.

Description: The article notes that the “Terminology Report of the Committee on Pensions of the Society of Actuaries was initially undertaken to assist the Academy’s Principles and Practices Committee with recommendations it had been preparing. As indicated in the exposure draft of the Terminology Report distributed in March 1975, the scope of the project was subsequently broadened.” It then summarizes recent developments and recommendations.

Description: In response to the large volume of acquisitions in recent years, many corporations have implemented defensive measures to make themselves less desirable acquisition targets. A number of techniques involving employee benefits programs can be part of a corporation’s anti-takeover posture. These techniques generally attempt to accomplish imposing a new, significant liability, or cash commitment on the hostile bidder, or placing a block of stock in “friendly” hands.