Description: This issue of The Retirement Forum presents the four prize-winning papers from the Retirement 20/20 Call for Models for Public Pension Plans Contest, which was conducted in 2018, and includes commentary from reviewers of these papers and replies from the authors.

Description: This report investigates the financial consequences of delaying CPP payments. The intent is to provide a quantitative basis to better inform the take-up decisions of Canadians for whom delaying CPP benefits might provide improved financial outcomes and greater retirement income security.

Description: Comments on Robert North’s paper, a real case study of disclosing MVL in a public employee retirement system.

Description: Challenge to actuarial business as usual in re public pension plans with a focus on setting actuarial standards of practice

Description: This article summarizes the presentations by the Society of Actuaries and the Academy of Actuaries at the January 2015 National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) Roundtables in Washington DC. SOA presented on the 2014 SOA monograph series "The Link between Retirement Security and Long-Term Care."

Description: The purpose of this paper is to explore pension plan metrics— – measuring the behavior of a defined- benefit pension plan in an uncertain environment. Our goal is to measure and evaluate the quantitative impact of competing policy choices. We proceed by investigating some basic pension metrics, evaluating the characteristics of each using a simulated pension plan. We find that some typical metrics— – such as the mean and standard deviation— – are useful only in certain circumstances and that other less traditional measurements are sometimes better suited to evaluating policy choices.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to explore pension plan dynamics— – the behavior of a defined- benefit pension plan over time in an uncertain environment. We proceed by simulating the behavior of a model plan in a stochastically varying economic environment. While both the model and its environment are simplified, the model displays interesting behavior suggesting policy considerations that should be included in the design and funding of these plans.

Description: This article reviews the proposed new accounting standards for pensions for governmental plans. From the Pension Section News, October 2011, Issue No. 75.

Description: The current financial model put forth as the market value of public sector pension benefit liabilities is simply the expected cash flows of the accumulated benefit obligation, as defined for current private sector financial reporting, discounted using a risk-free yield curve. This model is in serious need of an overhaul. This monograph addresses this issue.

Description: Paper presents two alternative practices that could promote fuller recognition of a plan’s investment risks and that take into account the long-term nature of the benefit promises of maturing retirement systems.

Description: The article presents a number of approaches to communicating and discussing risk with employer and retirement board members.

Description: Paper that explores some characteristics of pension plans that affect the type and amount of investment risk a government-sponsored pension plan can afford.

Description: Part 1 proposes solutions to the first of three flaws of the current financial model to obtaining the fair value of the public sector employer’s pension benefit liability.

Description: A discussion of a the Colombian Army Forces pension plan model.

Description: This paper examines how income sources change when married women in Britain, the U.S., and Germany are widowed, and it draws inferences about the income consequences of specific retirement and survivorship provisions. .

Description: The Federal Employees' Retirement System 'FERS', enacted into law on June 6, 1986, covers civilian employees of the U.S. Government who were hired after 1983. FERS supplements Social Security with a basic annuity plan and a thrift-savings plan. The Civil Service Retirement System 'CSRS' remains in effect for employees hired before 1984 who do not elect to transfer to FERS. Besides discussing the benefit changes, this paper covers the following related subjects of broader interest: 1. The federal legislative process, including the roles of interest groups, the Congress and the Administration, and the actuaries assisting them, 2. Investments in stocks and bonds by the new thrift plan, and why these use index funds, and 3. How FERS serves as a model for other large public retirement systems, using a defined contribution plan to help meet its retirement objectives and giving the private sector opportunities to provide benefit services. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1988, Vol. 40, Pt. 1.

Description: Presented at October 1985 Annual Meeting. Discusses fifty years of Social Security and the role of actuaries, recruitment sources and problems, remuneration, functions of actuarial staff, problems of staff retention, political pressures, opportunities to influence national legislation.

Description: This paper describes the impact of inflation on the design, reporting, and actuarial analysis of the federal retirement programs for civilian employees and military personnel. The impact of inflation on these programs is of interest not only because federal annuity payments are a large portion of the federal budget, but also because the annuities have been fully indexed since 1963 and have gone through many of the design and valuation problems that would be experienced by other fully indexed pension systems. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1982, Vol. 34.

Description: This panel discussion focuses on the funding of public employee retirement plans.

Description: A comparison of Social Security benefits, for a hypothetical new entrant to the program, between the 1972 Social Security Act and the 1977 Social Security Act.

Description: This section presents multiple book reviews and summaries of recent publications. Reviews: 'Social Security' by Myers, 'Report on Actuarial Principles and Practical Problems with Regard to Nonforfeiture Requirements' by Society of Actuaries, 'Mortality and Morbidity in the US' by Erhardt and Berlin, 'The Fifty-Second Annual Report of the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System' by US Government, 'Health Service Information in the US Today' by Murnaghan, 'Financial Problems Confront the Federal OASI and DI Trust Funds' by Staats, 'Public Employee Pension Funds' by Tilove, '1976 Annual Reports of the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASDI Trust Funds...' by US Congress, 'Report of the Consultant Panel on Social Security to the US Congressional Research Service' by US Government, 'Crime by Computer' by Parker, 'Reports of Consultants on Actuarial and Definitional Aspects of Social Security Disability Insurance' by US Government, 'Social Security: The Fraud in Your Future' by Shore, '1972 Lifetime Earnings by Age, Sex, Race and Education Level' by Social Security Administration. Digests also included.

Description: Review of Fifty-Second Annual Report of the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System. The authors found it to be a concise well written report discussing a number of issues facing all pensions in an inflationary economy. Both the title and the dull format in the usual Government Printing Office style would seem to insure this document's instantaneous consignment to dead storage. However, behind the cover of this small pamphlet is a concise, well written report discussing-a-number of the issues facing not only federal pension programs at the present time, but all pensions in an inflationary economy. For example, several of the 11 pages devoted to the main report discuss the implications of static assumptions ignoring inflation as opposed to dynamic assumptions including inflation.

Description: This paper surveys the actuarial techniques connected with salary scale mathematics for the valuation of defined benefit pension plans. Followed by several discussion papers submitted