Description: The objective of this paper, prepared by the Society of Actuaries Committee on Pension Principles and Related Research, is to examine the advantages and disadvantages of using select and ultimate interest and salary scale assumptions in the valuation of defined benefit pension plans. The technical issues involved and the effect of such assumptions on the incidence of plan cost are also studied. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1985, Vol. 37.

Description: This research examines funding valuation discount rates that reflect the expected return on investments in accordance with the pension plan’s investment policy. The research is based on data from regulatory filings in Ontario, with supplementary information from British Columbia and the United States.

Description: This paper deals with the selection of appropriate interest and inflation assumptions, which is one of the most important considerations in the valuation of a defined benefit pension plan. The paper begins by describing a simplified model in which the only important consideration is the selection of an appropriate differential between interest and inflation assumptions. The discussion then considers some situations that might lead the actuary to attempt to select a realistic level of interest and inflation assumptions, in addition to an appropriate differential. The author's conclusion is that in some situations the absolute level of the interest and inflation assumptions can be all but meaningless, and the differential between the two assumptions is the important factor. In other situations the use of this technique will produce serious inaccuracies in the valuation results. As always, the actuary must analyze each situation in order to determine which of the available techniques will produce the best results with the least effort, given the degree of accuracy required. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1976, Vol. 28.

Description: It is common for a pension plan to be amended to improve benefits in respects of service after the date of amendment. This will be referred to as a non-retroactive amendment. The application of the entry age normal and projected unit credit cost methods to this situation requires that a decision be made about the way to handle such an amendment. In this paper, these two cost methods and their application to such an amendment are considered in turn. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1994, Vol. 1.

Description: This research, based on data from regulatory filings in Ontario, with supplementary information from British Columbia and the United States, examines funding valuation discount rates.

Description: This summary is intended to provide the pension actuary with guidance in interpreting and using the termination and retirement information in the 2003 SOA Pension Plan Termination and Retirement Study. The tables in the study were developed based on 1.7 million life years of data from 112 plans collected primarily from actuarial consulting firms for the period 1995 – 2000.

Description: A mathematical framework for benefits and choices must be created to model benefit selection. This paper creates such a framework by defining benefit plans as reimbursement functions. These are then used with a defined choice function to calculate the cost deviation due to selection. Finally, utility functions can be applied to this framework to predict choice.

Description: This paper studies the variability of pension costs and fund levels under various funding methods. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1990, Vol. 1.

Description: A mathematical model is described which facilitates the comparison of different pension funding methods. Rates of return are assumed firstly to be random and then to be represented by an autoregressive model for the corresponding force of interest. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1990, Vol. 1.

Description: Financing a defined benefit pension plan can be accomplished in various ways. With the help of a one-life example, this paper gives an elementary actuarial perspective of the problems that arise when a new defined benefit pension plan is initiated, and of the various actuarial concepts and methods developed to ascertain the cost of these pension benefits. The paper shows the range of the cost alternatives conceptually available upon creation of the pension plan. Actuarial formulas are provided in footnotes. The paper is intended as an introduction to defined benefit pension cost determination as well as an elementary example which may be of value in explaining cost alternatives to an actuary's client. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1975, Vol. 27.