Description: This section of book reviews covers topics of pension mathematics, cost of hospital care, variable life insurance, probability theory and early retirement programs. Also included in this article is information from U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 1, No. 68.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'Accounting for Life Insurance Companies' by Charles L. Van House and W. Rogers Hammond, 2. 'Accidents and Homicide' by Albert P. Islsant and Paul V. Joliet, 3. 'Prognosis: Clinical Factors in Risk Appraisal' by Thomas A. Keith, 4. 'Early Retirement: The Decision and the Experience' by Richard Barlield and James Morgan, 5. 'Pension Fund Investment Management' edited by Esmond B. Gardner, and 6. 'Tower of Strength: A Centennial History of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Office' by C. W. Vennell. Notices of miscellaneous notes and studies are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1970, Vol. 22, Pt. 1, No. 62.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'Fundamental Mathematics of Life Insurance' by Floyd S. Harper and Lewis C. Workman, 2. 'Mathematics of Compound Interest' by Marjorie V. Butcher and Cecil J. Nesbitt, 3.'Compound Interest and Annuities-Certain' by D. W. A. Donald, 4. 'Demography' by P. R. Cox, 5. 'The Spirit and the Uses of the Mathematical Sciences' edited by Thomas L. Saaty and F. Joachim Weyl, 6. 'Ethics, Morality, and Insurance' by John D. Long, 7. Reports of the 1971 Advisory Council on Social Security, 8. 'Medical Care at Public Expense' by Mark V. Pauly 9. 'Eleventh Actuarial Valuation of the Assets and Liabilities under the Railroad Retirement Acts as of December 31, 1968, with Technical Supplement' by the Railroad Retirement Board, 10. 'Nouvelles tables-types de mortalité' by Sully Ledermann, 11. 'A Table of Expected Working Life for Men, 1968' by Howard W. Fullerton, 12. 'Disability-Determination and Evaluation' by Henry H. Kessler, 13. 'Industrial Safety Statistics: A Re-examination' by Jerome B. Gordon, Allan Akman, and Michael L. Brooks, 14. 'Pensions and Severance Pay for Displaced Defense Workers' by Hugh Folk and PauI Hartman, 15. 'Trends and Variations in Fertility in the United States' by Clyde V. Kiser, Wilson H. Grabill, and Arthur A. Campbell, 16. 'Benefit Plans in Junior Colleges' by Francis P. King, 17. 'The Consumer's Guide to Insurance Buying' by Vladimir P. Chernik, and 18. 'Private Pension Scheme Finance' by Sylvia and Leslie Tutt. Notices of other studies and articles are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 67.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'The Analysis of Mortality and Other Actuarial Statistics' by B. Benjamin and H. W. Haycocks, 2. 'Life Insurance, Annuities & Pensions' by A. Pedoe, 3. 'Vesting and Termination Provisions in Private Pension Plans' by Carl H. Fischer, 4. 'Decision Analysis: Introductory Lectures on Choices under Uncertainty' by Howard Raiffa, 5. 'Mathematical Methods in Risk Theory' by Hans Buhlmann, 6. 'Early Retirement Benefits-Panacea, Purgatory or Palliative' by Harry E. Blagden, 7 'Early Retirement: A Survey of Company Policies and Retirees' Experiences' by Mark R. Greene, H. Charles Pyron, U. Vincent Manion, and Howard' Winklevoss, 8. 'Guaranty Fund for Private Pension Obligations' by Dan M. McGill, and 9. 'The Automobile Worker and Retirement: A Second Look' by Richard E. Barfield. Notices of other articles and studies are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 65.

Description: This section provides multiple book reviews and summaries of recent publications. Topics include aging, retirement and pension plans, investing, demography, mergers and acquisitions, variable annuities and other insurance and mathmatical subjects. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 1, No. 70.

Description: In the absence of a generally accepted guide to actuarial principles and practices for pension plans, a new professional firm offering actuarial consulting services has both the freedom to establish and the burden of establishing the professional policies by which it will be guided. Our thinking about the practical and professional necessity of annual valuations is reflected in this paper. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 1, No. 69 AB.

Description: This paper examines some of the methods used to determine the value of the assets held by a pension fund and used in actuarial valuations to determine the required contributions for a pension plan. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1968, Vol. 20, Pt. 1, No. 58.

Description: This is a discussion about employee benefit plans: -Group Life - What has been the effect of the new law taxing employer contributions in excess of $50K? What special underwriting problems have occurred, what underwriting techniques used, what has the mortality experience been? -Group Health - What are special considerations where premium rates are guaranteed for greater than one year? Are any additional reserves established? What are the current developments in Group dental? Have any experience studies been made? What is the potential market for group dental? -Group Annuities - What volume of business has been written on separate accounts or segregated funds? What problems have arisen in administering this type of plan? -Miscellaneous- What has been the experience on high limit accidental death and dismemberment benefits? In pension plans has there been an increase in joint and survivorship options? Has there been an increase in disability benefits under retirement plans? To what extent is the new money concept being adopted in fields other than group annuities? What is the current outlook with regard to reducing or eliminating the difference in taxes imposed on insured employee benefit plans vs self-insured plans? From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1964, Vol. 16 Pt. 2