Description: This paper is from Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1955 Volume 7, Number 17. The author describes the 1954 amendments to Social Security, with a comparison to the 1950 and 1952 amendments, all of which primarily affected the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance [OASI] system, increasing benefits. Data on experience under the 1950 and 1952 amendments is provided. The author discusses the major changes enacted under the 1954 amendments, among them extension of coverage, increases in benefits and an increase in the maximum wages subject to contributions.

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 presents statistics on the growth of actuarial employment with Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans over the last 25 years.

Description: The author discusses a perceived loophole in the Social Security system whereby an employer could reduce employees’ wages by all or a portion of their Social Security payroll tax and then pay this tax for the employees. This procedure, which had been little used through the years except by householders employing domestic workers, was dubbed “FICA-II,” and the article notes that 1980 legislation prohibited the practice other than for domestic workers and a few other limited exemptions.

Description: In this paper the authors discuss the official decennial Unites States Life Tables for 1979-81, presenting age-specific mortality rates and expectations of life. Mortality trends are examined going back to the first decennial tables published at the beginning of the century, and brief comparisons with mortality in other industrialized countries are made. The paper includes written discussion. From the 1985 Transactions Vol. 37.

Description: Reports on recent month-end fund balances in the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance funds. They had been facing a great financial crisis recently and now are in much better financial condition.

Description: This article is a review of the 1977 book “The Future of Social Security,” by Alicia H. Munnell, formerly on the staff of the Brookings Institution and now an Assistant Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The author of this review notes that the financial problems of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program have drawn considerable public attention during the past few years, and this has produced quite a number of books and papers on the subject with various recommendations as to what should be done about the future of the program. The reviewer thinks highly of this book, which covers the philosophical questions of individual equity vs. social adequacy, and the question of the effect of OASDI on savings and capital accumulation. Note: A detailed review of the book will appear in the Transactions.

Description: From the 1960 Transactions Vol. 12 No. 32, this article is a discussion of the paper ‘A New Remarriage Table,’ by A. M. Niessen, which also appears in this volume of the Transactions. The contributors to the discussion provide their comments with respect to Mr. Niessen’s paper, which is based on his studies of widows’ remarriage rates.

Description: Article from The Actuary, June 1971 – volume 5 - Issue 6 reviews the Advisory Council on Social Security's 1971 report on Social Security and Medicare.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books published in 1987-1990: 1. 'Pension Age in a Changing Society' by Patrick Carroll, 2. 'Life Insurance Mathematics' by Hans U. Gerber, 3. 'A History of Probability and Statistics and Their Applications before 1750' by Anders Hald, 4. 'Medical Risks: Trends in Mortality by Age and Time Elapsed' by Edward A. Lew, 5. 'Canadian Handbook of Flexible Benefits' by Robert J. McKay, 6. 'Canadian Insurance Practices' by Franklin Reynolds, 7. 'On the Shoulders of Giants' edited by Lynn Arthur Steen, 8. 'The Value of Pensions in Divorce: What It Is and How to Use It' by Marvin Snyder, 9. 'Life Insurance Accounting' by Edward P. Brunner and Paul E. Heacock, 10. 'Duration Analysis: Managing Interest Rate Risk' by G.O. Bierwag, and 11. 'Actuarial Evidence: Valuing Past and Future Income' by Donald R. Anderson. Notices of other articles and publications are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1990, Vol. 42.