Description: Abstract/Author's biography/Acknowledgements/References/Title Page. From Retrospective and Perspective Analysis of the Privatized Mandatory Pension System in Mexico, M-RS02-1.

Description: Calculating the retirement benefits under a defined contribution pension plan requires information about lifetime salary profiles along with the density of contribution. Most often, in developing countries, a simple income profile is assumed with no regard to actual income profiles. One commonly used rule is to assume a x percent growth in income throughout the working lives of affiliates. This is the abstract of a paper that investigates if the reality corresponds to such assumptions.

Description: Mexico substituted its defined benefit system [IMSS] of the formal sector by a defined contribution system in 1997. The initial plan called for buying single premium annuities for the widows and disabled workers under the new system. In the first three years, this market came to occupy a significant part of the insurance sector. Then, the number of workers getting benefits started to fall dramatically. This is the abstract of a paper that shows that such a fall has been a direct result of how the IMSS authorizes the issuance of single premium annuities. The paper analyses the rationale behind such a dramatic change in policy, analyzes various possible scenarios of IMSS strategies, and examines the problem to see if it brings in any long-term benefits to IMSS.