Description: The Q&A’s contain additional background information on the development, application and impact of Scale BB. Scale BB was introduced in March 2012 as an interim mortality improvement scale which may be used by pension actuaries until work on a formal successor to the widely used improvement scale, Scale AA, is complete.

Description: This is the Introductory Study Note for the Society of Actuaries Retirement Benefits-Design and Pricing, US examination for Spring 2012 that will be given on Thursday, April 26th from 8:30 a.m. –12:15 p.m.

Description: This section features various book reviews: 'How to Cope with the Developing Financial Crisis' by Bladen, 'Policymaking for Social Security' by Derthick, '1979 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASDI Trust Funds' by US Congress, 'Integration of Plans with Social Security and Funding' by Grubbs, 'Pension and Profit Sharing Plans - a Basic Guide' by Mamorsky, 'Joint Trust Pension Plans' by McGinn, 'Financing the Civil Service Retirement Systems...' by McGill, 'Pension Task Force Report on Public Employee Retirement Systems' by Committee on Education and Labor. Brief descriptions of additional readings are also included.

Description: This is a teaching session on PBGC calculations.

Description: The speakers will share the international experience in the annuity market, discuss the annuity puzzle and the influencing factors of annuity supply and demand, and express their views on the annuity market trend under the aging and longevity trend of China's population and longevity risk management of annuity products.

Description: Dive into the released enhancements of MIM-2021, including a run through of its purpose and evolution, during this webcast. The Mortality and Longevity Strategic Research Program plans to release these updates in October. You will leave this webcast with an understanding of how to create a mortality improvement scale using the necessary steps and tools. Learn how to use MIM-2021 through instruction and demonstration that will properly prepare you to utilize this tool. There will be time for questions where you can ask about the projection process or provide feedback.

Description: This panel discussion looks at individual tax qualified products. The areas addressed include regulatory developments, products being used, the effect of volatile money markets on product design, variations in assumptions by market, variations in results by market, defined benefit HR10, spousal IRAs, and Canadian RRSP's.

Description: 1992 SOA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. This session on mergers and acquisitions discussed the impact of pensions, post-retirement costs and fringe benefits on acquisitions as well as the special problems that arise when the parties in a transaction are globally diverse.

Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.

Description: This article is about the need for changes in employee benefits and retirement. According to the author we have lost sight of the original goal: the encouragement of privately sponsored employee benefit programs so that workers and their families can live in dignity in retirement.