Description: Indexed variable annuities (IVAs)—also known as “structured” or “buffer” annuities—are a relatively new product that have drawn interest both among insurers and investors.

Description: The first Baby Boomers turn 60 this year, which will begin a tidal wave of new retirees in the coming years. Unfortunately for these retirees, the long–term funding of Social Security is unclear, defined benefit plans cover fewer and fewer of today's workers, and defined contribution plan savings rates are generally not high enough to compensate for a lengthy retirement. This article describes how this wave of retirees presents a growing opportunity for the insurance industry.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 1. This article explores the differences and the commonalities of UK vs US actuarial practice with an emphasis on pensions.

Description: The article is a summary of Society of Actuaries report entitled “Annuity Market Pricing Approaches” sponsored by the Retirement Section Research Committee. The report examines the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) methodology of developing solvency valuation assumptions, compares it to methods used in the U.S., and considers if it could be used in other markets, such as U.S. group annuities or individual annuities

Description: RP-2000 Mortality Tables Report Executive Summary from Pension Section News, October 2000, Issue No. 44.

Description: All things considered, caution needs to be applied to the use of so-called “standard” mortality tables. Sharpening up these blunt estimates by using individual assumptions reveals material differences in the structure of longevity, both between plans and within plans.

Description: This 2007 article from U.S. News & World Report by Paul J. Lim and Emily Brandon is about households retiring with less assets saved than was planned. It references an Employee Benefit Research Institute study and includes quotes from Anna Rappaport, FSA.

Description: The subject of this brief article is “Individual Retirement Accounts, Actuarial Note No. 1-77, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board,” which summarizes the principal eligibility conditions for individual retirement accounts under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 including the liberalizations under the Tax Reform Act of 1976.

Description: Table 2 for 2009 Pension Section Survey: Update and Action Plan showing the Pension Section's plans for continuing education and the expected timeframe

Description: Retirement benefits have become a seamless worldwide web. Thus actuaries who go to war in the international arena are painfully aware of the impact of U.S. technology on the battlefield. The debut of that awesome awful weapon, ERISA, and all its derivatives has persuaded many countries to adopt counterparts.