Description: Personal highlights of a pension actuary's 10 years with the U.S. Social Security Administration and Senate staff, applying his experience and skills to emerging issues. He recommended that the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees use index funds for common stocks, giving employees an attractive way to invest while keeping politics out of stock selection.

Description: Recent studies have suggested that teachers would be better off with DC or Cash Balance plans than with DB. Detailed data from CalSTRS support the opposite.

Description: Challenge to actuarial business as usual in re public pension plans with a focus on setting actuarial standards of practice

Description: The Total Career Benchmark Model, consistent with Retirement 20/20 principles, focuses on reconstructing and maintaining a consistent and reasonable sharing of risks and rewards amongst the four stakeholders: Individuals, Society, Employers and the Markets. Modern technology provides the necessary tools. A series of benchmarks are used for tax limits, target pensions, accrual to date etc. The self adjusting, consistent benchmarks under the TCB Model, means that all stakeholders speak the same language. Individuals and Employers can easily compare what they have to what they need – and more importantly can see how to accrue what is needed. An individual’s ability to tax shelter income over a career is not dependent on the design of any employer pension plan. All funds allocated to an individual remain the individual’s and are not used to subsidize another person – except for the inherent risk sharing of an annuity – by hidden transfers of value.