Description: Updated metrics for measuring financial stress among multiemployer pension plans in the United States.

Description: Overview of the prevalence of employer withdrawals from multiemployer pension plans in the United States and their impact on the multiemployer pension plan system.

Description: Presented at October 1996 Annual Meeting. Now that plan sponsors are required to purchase only the “safest available” annuities, companies encounter a number of difficulties when they attempt to terminate a defined-benefit plan. This session addresses the lack of available insurers and the resulting effect on competition, a situation in which the plan sponsor may have difficulty finding any insurer to take plan benefits, the effect on prevalence of lump-sum distributions, and the role of the PBGC as insurer of last resort.

Description: Book review of a book on pensions written by Ralph Nader and Kate Blackwell. Review is relatively balanced, yet clearly points out the shortfalls of the analysis put together by Mr. Nader and Ms. Blackwell.

Description: Study of the impact of IRS proposed mortality tables on private sector pension plan costs, including liabilities, contributions and PBGC premiums.

Description: Understanding U.S. defined-benefit plan annual funding notice definitions and what they are meant to represent is a key to understanding how “healthy” or “unhealthy” a pension plan is. This article offers a description of several types of funded status measurements and their applications under the rules mandated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to fund private employer-sponsored defined-benefit pension plans.

Description: Updated study of metrics for measuring stress imposed on US multiemployer pension plans by unfunded liabilities and declining numbers of active participants

Description: A discussion of where insurance companies and their products fit in the retirement asset market and trends over the past few decades. Some historical data on the insurance companies' share of retirement assets is included.

Description: Canadian employers who sponsor retirement plans have mostly adopted arrangements that qualify for deferral of taxes. It is no longer clear that this is the best choice. Low interest rates and the emergence of Tax-Free Savings Accounts mean that there could be better alternatives for future generations of employees. This research paper re-examines the effectiveness of tax deferral and other fundamental choices.

Description: Technological innovations are disrupting traditional business models, improving products, and enhancing the user experience.