Description: This paper is concerned with the fundamental nature of life insurance company earnings. The operation of the policy reserve system as the timing mechanism which determines the incidence of earnings is discussed, and the concept of release from risk is then described. A policy reserve system based on the concept of release from risk is developed, and the earnings which emerge from this system are analyzed from both an actuarial and an accounting viewpoint. S ome specific p o l i c y r e s e r v e m e t h o d s a r e ident i f i ed a s spe c i a l c a s e s of t h e r e l e a s e f r o m r i sk p o l i c y r e s e r v e s y s t e m .