Description: A comparison of recently used mortality assumptions among state-based and large-city public pension plans.

Description: A pension plan uses Actuarial Equivalence to determine a 'fair' adjustment to pension benefits for form and timing of payment. The definition of Actuarial Equivalence is set in the Plan Document which may not have been reviewed for decades. With a wave of recent pension litigation in the U.S., plan sponsors, attorneys and actuaries now pay more attention to how pension plans define Actuarial Equivalence. How does a change in mortality table or interest rate affect the ultimate benefit? What are the requirements under ERISA and pertinent regulations? Are there court cases that have examined this question before? What are the issues behind the recent lawsuits and what can a plan sponsor do now to reduce their legal exposure? What alternative strategies are available for changing or not changing the definition in the plan document?

Description: The 2006 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation PBGC Annual Performance and Accountability Report and the 2006 Annual Report of the PBGC each contain a summary of the results of the Sept. 30, 2006 actuarial valuation. The purpose of the separate Actuarial Valuation Report is to provide greater detail concerning the valuation of future benefits than is presented in PBGC's Annual Report.

Description: Panelists discuss the current and developing old-age crisis from a world perspective and a U.S. perspective, and also look at it from a futurism perspective. From the 1997 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Description: Concomitant with the industrial revolution, the function of providing old age income shifted from families and local institutions to government social security and private pension plans. The history of this change in the U.K. and U.S. is reviewed. A simple mathematical model provides insights into the role played by three rates [the rate of increase of the working population, the time preference rate, and the rate of real wage growth] in determining optimum funding policy. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1994, Vol. 2.

Description: The RP-2006 and RPH-2006 Mortality Tables were created from the same data as the RP-2014 and RPH-2014 tables, but with rates as of the central year of 2006.

Description: The RP-2006 and RPH-2006 Mortality Tables were created from the same data as the RP-2014 and RPH-2014 tables, but with rates as of the central year of 2006.

Description: The tables were developed from data collected for 2010–2014. The central year of the data is 2012, hence the name. These tables are intended to be adjusted with a mortality improvement scale. The Pri-2012 Mortality Tables update the RP-2006 Mortality Tables , which were developed from data collected for years 2004–2008.

Description: There is no silver bullet to improving retirement income outcomes for retirees. However, a combination of changes can be of significant value in addressing this overlooked issue. Although QLACs on the surface have potential value, they are not nearly as efficient as they could be. So far, employer plans have provided limited options for retirement income solutions. IRAs may not cost effectively serve the best interest of retirees. Employer plans should be encouraged to become retirement income providers and alternative approaches should be considered. The current prohibition on allowing plans to modify benefit payouts based on mortality experience should be reconsidered to allow for innovative plan income designs. Improvements to the deaccumulation stage of the retiree nest egg are challenging yet necessary.

Description: This article highlights the world's fastest growing economy market, China, focuses on its private pension market. Hidden in the backdrop of China’s rapid growth lurks an aging population, a result of China’s one-child policy and the improved longevity of its people. The “4-2-1” phenomenon, characterized by a family structure of four grandparents, two parents, and a single child, is becoming more prevalent. While this aging society is not immediately apparent—in fact, many multinational companies employ a young workforce, with very few grey-haired employees—a demographic shift is inevitable. From Pension Section News, September 2006, No. 62.