Description: This paper consists of two parts. The first concerns the financing of public systems, the second is a challenging introduction to variances encountered in life insurance and life annuity theory. The first part emerges from work by some actuarial students and faculty at the University of Michigan during the past five years. The second part was stimulated by some developments in the preparation of the second edition of Actuarial Mathematics.

Description: This section contains multiple book reviews and notices concerning the actuarial profession. Reviews: 'Medical Risks: Patterns of Mortality and Survival' by Singer and Levinson, 'The Theory and Practice of Pension Funding' by Trowbridge and Farr, 'Two Stochastic Processes' by Beekman, 'Disability Income Insurance - Cost Differentials between Men and Women' by New York Insurance Department, 'Social Security and Private Pension Plans: Competitive or Complementary' by McGill, 'A New Look at Accounting for Pension Costs' by Hall and Landsittel, '1977 Annual Reports of the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASDI Trust Funds...,' 'Investigation of Sickness Statistics - Individual Policies, 1971 and 1973' by the Institute of Actuaries and the Faculty of Actuaries, 'The Graduation of Pensioners and of Annuitants Mortality Experience 1967-70' by the Institute of Actuaries and the Faculty of Actuaries, 'Pensions and Survival - the Coming Crisis of Money and Retirement' by Calvert, 'Group Benefits in a Changing Society' by Spencer, 'Experience of Disabled Work Benefits under OASDI 1965-74' by Bayo and Wilkin. Digests also included.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to identify the changes in the structure and composition of families and to discuss the implications of those changes for Social Security reform.

Description: Presented at October 1985 Annual Meeting. Discusses fifty years of Social Security and the role of actuaries, recruitment sources and problems, remuneration, functions of actuarial staff, problems of staff retention, political pressures, opportunities to influence national legislation.

Description: This article, excerpted with permission from the author’s presentation at Open Forum One in Quebec City, describes the Carter Administration’s financing proposals for the Social Security trust funds, released at the same time as the 1977 Trustees Reports. The Administration proposal in total is rather complex and defies a simple explanation but there are basically eight major provisions, which the author discusses in this article.

Description: The Social Security retirement test based upon earnings.

Description: This article summarizes the Social Security changes that were signed into law P.L. 93-233 on Dec. 31, 1973. These changes were principally intended to advance the payment of part of the automatic benefit increase that would have been payable according to the provisions enacted in 1972.

Description: Commentary from Robert Myers regarding the apparent success of the actuarial cost estimating procedure for the Social Security program on its 40th anniversary.

Description: This article is a summary of “Reports of Consultants on Actuarial and Definitional Aspects of Social Security Disability Insurance,” U.S. Government Printing Office, 1976. These reports are concerned with the disability portion of the Social Security Act and more specifically, with certain aspects of the definition of disability and the increases in benefit utilization that are taking place under this disability program.

Description: The author proposes an adjustment to the automatic benefit increase formula to reflect discrepancies between the CPI and wage inflation.