Description: This article introduces the special rules that apply to employees of state and local governments that choose to be covered by the U.S. Social Security program.

Description: President Bush is to be commended for making social security private account reform a top legislative priority, but the mixed defined-benefit/defined-contribution model that he has in mind has been criticized for transferring too much investment and longevity risk to account holders. In response, President Bush should consider an alternative approach to private account design - indexed benefit offsets - that would retain the existing defined-benefit model and eliminate this risk transfer. From Pension Section News, April 2005, Issue No. 58.

Description: Personal highlights of a pension actuary's 10 years with the U.S. Social Security Administration and Senate staff, applying his experience and skills to emerging issues. He recommended that the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees use index funds for common stocks, giving employees an attractive way to invest while keeping politics out of stock selection.

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 paper reviews and compares the Canadian and U.S. Social Security systems as to their adequacy, actuarial equity and progressiveness. It concludes that the Canadian system[s] provide larger minimum benefits and, thus, greater adequacy than the U. S. On the other hand, the analysis indicates more emphasis on actuarial equity in the U.S. system [in total] than in Canada. Finally, both systems are shown to be highly progressive in that lower-wage earners get larger benefits per dollar of contribution than do higher wage earners. The paper concludes by noting that while the systems in these two countries have remarkably different actuarial formulae for determining benefits, and remarkably different structures, that the benefits that result from the two systems are surprisingly similar. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1999, Vol. 1.

Description: From the 1960 Transactions Vol. 12 No. 32, this ‘Digest of Informal Discussion’ addresses current developments and proposals with respect to Social Security legislation in the United States and Canada, and individual retirement legislation.

Description: Summary of Social Security's automatic adjustments in benefits and other amounts taking effect at the beginning of 2014.

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 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 discussion from the 1983 SOA Vancouver Meeting looks at recent developments in pensions for the United States including TEFRA and Section 415 limits on defined benefit and defined contribution plans, the taxation of social security benefits, and FASB views on pension assets and liabilities. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 9, No. 3.