Description: Pension actuaries need data for setting assumptions, comparative information and technical analysis. This session focuses on what information is available, how to find it and how to use it. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 1.

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: 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: In light of the Executive Life insolvency, this panel discusses the current situation regarding insurance company guaranteed products and retirement plans. Also addressed is what the DOL, IRS, PBGC, Congress and the insurance industry have done. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 18, No. 1B.

Description: This presentation is a Pension Section meeting from the 1991 Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held June 3-5 in Colorado Springs. The speaker discusses insurer solvency issues for pension actuaries, focusing on the failure of Executive Life and the implications for its significant amount of pension business. Topics include the tax claims of the Internal Revenue Service, and role and potential liability of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC], state guaranty funds, and reinsurers. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 17, No. 3B.

Description: The panelists discuss recent developments, especially governmental laws and rules affecting the pension plans in the U.S. that are not being covered at other sessions. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 1.