Description: Europe is in a state of financial flux. The ongoing effort to develop an integrated European economic community has led to sweeping changes in accounting regulations and pension systems. These changes will have profound implications for the competitive structure of the European life insurance market.

Description: The decline of importance of private defined benefit plans in relation to defined contribution plans in the United States is a major issue of interest to pension actuaries. This decline is undeniable, and has been attributed to numerous factors: costs of government regulation, societal and cultural changes, changed attitudes of employers, and employees' lack of understanding of defined benefit plans. It has also caused some to proclaim the end of a private defined benefit plan. This work analyzes possible macroeconomic factors contributing to the crisis of defined benefit plans, and proposes an alternative hypothesis for the cause of the crisis: the decline of relative attractiveness of defined benefit plans in relation to defined contribution plans due to the shift in the way relative returns to macroeconomic factors of production, i.e., capital and labor, are allocated in the national economy. Possibilities of improvement of the position of defined benefit plans are also discussed. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1998 Vol. 2.

Description: The Total Career Benchmark Model, consistent with Retirement 20/20 principles, focuses on reconstructing and maintaining a consistent and reasonable sharing of risks and rewards amongst the four stakeholders: Individuals, Society, Employers and the Markets. Modern technology provides the necessary tools. A series of benchmarks are used for tax limits, target pensions, accrual to date etc. The self adjusting, consistent benchmarks under the TCB Model, means that all stakeholders speak the same language. Individuals and Employers can easily compare what they have to what they need – and more importantly can see how to accrue what is needed. An individual’s ability to tax shelter income over a career is not dependent on the design of any employer pension plan. All funds allocated to an individual remain the individual’s and are not used to subsidize another person – except for the inherent risk sharing of an annuity – by hidden transfers of value.

Description: This article discusses the importance of employer retirement plans. Retirement security in the United States comes from Social Security, employer-sponsored benefits, and personal assets including housing and individual savings. The retirement system today is faced with a lot of change, threat and uncertainty. This article deals with the question: How do employers add value by sponsoring plans? It is positioned to open up a dialogue among actuaries and include embedded questions that are italicized throughout this article. From Pension Section News, January 2006, No. 60.

Description: This 1978 discussion session is about pension plans for small employers offered by insurance companies and also provides an overview of small group insurance plans funded through Multiple Employer Trusts.

Description: Sound and Workable Pension Actuarial, Accounting, and Funding Approaches for those Interested in the Health of Public and Private DB Plans – Discussant Comments

Description: This article highlights the world's fastest growing economy market, China, focuses on its private pension market. Hidden in the backdrop of China’s rapid growth lurks an aging population, a result of China’s one-child policy and the improved longevity of its people. The “4-2-1” phenomenon, characterized by a family structure of four grandparents, two parents, and a single child, is becoming more prevalent. While this aging society is not immediately apparent—in fact, many multinational companies employ a young workforce, with very few grey-haired employees—a demographic shift is inevitable. From Pension Section News, September 2006, No. 62.

Description: Concomitant with the industrial revolution, the function of providing old age income shifted from families and local institutions to government social security and private pension plans. The history of this change in the U.K. and U.S. is reviewed. A simple mathematical model provides insights into the role played by three rates [the rate of increase of the working population, the time preference rate, and the rate of real wage growth] in determining optimum funding policy. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1994, Vol. 2.

Description: This article, another in the popular series devoted to tax basics, provides an overview of how the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the law governing employment-based retirement and health plans, impacts the use of annuities in pension and 401(k) plans. The article explains which types of plans are subject to ERISA, and which are not; why the concept of "plan assets" is critical; what duties an insurance company or distributor might take on when an annuity is placed with a retirement plan; and finally what disclosures may be required. The article also includes a brief introduction to terminal funding annuities. This article is intended for those with no prior experience in ERISA. Because the vast majority of retirement assets are saved originally in employment based plans like pension and 401(k) plans, understanding the basics of ERISA is important for anyone who will have a career in annuities and life insurance.

Description: This article contains a review of the book 'Fundamentals of Private Pensions' by Dan M. McGill, published in 1984. Notices of Social Security notes and actuarial notes and studies are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1983, Vol. 35.