Description: This paper discusses the pricing of bond options and interest-sensitive cash flows by discrete state/time models such as binomial lattices. Current binomial models are faulty because the put-call parity relationship may not hold for all periods and there may exist negative interest rates. This paper presents a binomial model without such riskless arbitrage opportunities. This model allows the initial term structure of interest rates to be prescribed exogenously, so that the model price for each stream of fixed and certain cash flows is the market price.

Description: This report presents the results of the most recent study of individual life insurance lapse experience in the United States. Lapse includes termination for nonpayment of premium, insufficient cash value or full surrender of a policy, transfer to reduced paid-up or extended term status, and in most cases, terminations for unknown reason.

Description: This paper by the SOA Committee on HIV research builds on past work to show three projections of the future of the AIDS epidemic. These scenarios can provide information to actuaries in considering the financial impact of AIDS for life and health insurance. The paper develops general population AIDS mortality rates related to the three scenarios. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1990, Vol. 42.

Description: This article argues that wealth managers should advocate dynamic spending in proportion to survival probabilities, adjusted up for exogenous pension income and down for longevity risk aversion. The authors criticize the rule of thumb of spending a fixed 'x' percent of assets for retirement planning purposes.