Description: Article The 1979 Annual Report of the Trustees Of the U.S. Social Security Programs by Bartlett in The Actuary, June 1979, Volume 13, Number 6

Description: OASDI Trust Fund: Principal Economic and Demographic Assumptions from Pension Section News, October 2000, Issue No. 44.

Description: This session from the 1995 SOA Vancouver Meeting shows a comprehensive look inside government debt problems in the U.S. and Canada, Generational Accounts and the implications on government debt of the generational accounts. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 3b.

Description: Retirement readiness planning is difficult because the value of a person's future Social Security benefits is uncertain, given the need for reform.

Description: The book review states 'This monograph provides an independent overview of the assumptions and methodology behind the OASDI estimates made by the Social Security Administration. Such information has heretofore been available only in the annual reports of the Board of Trustees of the OASDI Trust Funds, in the Actuarial Studies issued by the SSA and in writings by individuals closely associated with the system.'

Description: This session from the 1983 SOA Vancouver Meeting discusses the current developments in Social Security including the Social Security Amendments of 1983, Social Security Reform, taxation changes, maintaining an adequate trust fund ratio and the economic assumptions. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 9, No. 3.

Description: Discusses the projected costs of social insurance programs in the U.S. and Canada, the experience of the British National Health Service on controlling costs versus providing quality service, the economic consequences of the projected high costs of social insurance and of the projected build-up and spend-down of the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance [OASDI] Trust Funds, and possible solutions to the financing of these programs. From the 1988 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 14, No. 1.

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.

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