Description: The author has been gathering facts about actuaries who were active in North America before the Actuarial Society of America was founded in 1889. The purpose of this exercise is to compile a definitive history of the North American actuarial profession in time for the Society of Actuaries centennial year, 1989. Furthermore, the author encourages all Society members to take a personal interest in the history project, both for the pleasure it offers and because of its bearing upon observance of the fundamental values that justify actuaries in calling theirs a profession.

Description: The author notes that “there is reason to expect 1981 to be the biggest year for Social Security legislation since 1977, perhaps even since 1972. The author further notes that the Congress will be forced to act to bring the system into financial balance. The article discusses some of the actions apt to be considered for legislative action including inter-fund borrowing, general fund borrowing, general revenue financing, changes in retirement age, changes in indexing, move towards universal coverage, and others.