Description: Chapter 8 of the Models for Retirement Policy Analysis. This chapter describes MINT, or Modeling Income in the Near Term, which is one of three retirement income and social security models now being developed in the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics of the Social Security Administration. The accessibility, ease of use, cost as well as the strengths and limitations of the approach are addressed.

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: 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: OASDI Trust Fund: Principal Economic and Demographic Assumptions from Pension Section News, October 1999, Issue No. 41.

Description: An excerpt from the 2003 Annual report of the Board of Trustees of the federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds which describes the assumptions and methods underlying the actuarial estimates.

Description: This excerpt is taken from Section V., Assumptions and Methods Underlying Actuarial Estimates, in the 2004 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds. From Pension Section News, September 2004, Issue No. 56.