Description: VM-20 requires prudent estimate assumptions that are based upon a combination of company experience, industry basic tables and prescribed margins. VM-20 has requirements on how company experience is defined, and also requires that additional margins be established if the actuary does not consider the prescribed margins to be adequate.

Description: It talks about the major areas of data science and how to learn data science with the actuarial background.

Description: This article explores reasons for plan sponsors to consider lump-sum payouts. The author suggests for plan sponsors looking to reduce risk, the factors outlined in the article suggest that sponsors may benefit from considering risk-transfer opportunities much sooner than they may have anticipated.

Description: An economic analysis of bariatric surgery and health care costs supports the case for health plans to cover these procedures.

Description: Written from a regulatory perspective, the article covers the purpose of regulation and some regulatory expectations. The topics include the appointed actuary's involvement in corporate governance, reasonability of results when compared to prior results, data quality, familiarity with the company's annual statement and applicable statutes, and areas where appointed actuaries can add value though services provided to smaller life insurance companies.

Description: Read the December 2018 issue of Small Talk published by Smaller Insurance Company Section. Practical information on trends that impact sections and activities.

Description: This article derives a recursion formula for determining life contingent annuity payments, and explains how it lends itself to use in computer programs.

Description: The basics and importance of the utilization assumption for long-term care insurance.

Description: This article addresses the scope of reserve valuation rules that compute or estimate reserves “on the basis of recognized mortality or morbidity tables, and assumed rates of interest.”

Description: The article discusses the practical impact of recently Rev. Rul. 2014-7, which modified and supercedes Rev. Rul. 2007-54 by republishing the position of what variable annuity contract reserves are taken into for tax purposes without addressing the issue of how to calculate required interest for separate accounts; Rev. Rul. 2014-7 also obsoleted Rev. Rul. 2007-61, which had suspended Rev. Rul. 2007-54.