Description: The article first tries to determine a consensus view of what social security should accomplish and then tries to measure how well the current level of benefits succeeds in meeting these goals. Assessing benefit adequacy is an essential element in putting the overall program on a sound financing footing.

Description: This meeting session, which occurred at the April 1982 Society of Actuaries meeting in Orlando, presented a discussion of U.S. Social Security issues. Questions discussed included: 1. What is the financial status of the Social Security program? 2. What changes have been recently adopted and what changes have been proposed? 3. How would these changes affect the private pension system costs and plan design? 4. What is the proper role of the actuarial profession regarding the Social Security program? Included discussion of the paper, Constant Replacement Ratios in Retirement: A Theoretical Approach,' by Barnet N. Berin and Anthony B. Richter.

Description: Essay reforming healthcare where participants have a vested interest in reaching the best answer.

Description: Summary of discussions from various panelists on the topic of Social Security. They looked at recent developments with respect to general legislation expanding coverage, discussion of the Constitutional issues with respect to Social Security, developing experience of the new Canadian old-age pension plan, inadequacy of the funding levels relative to promised benefits for both the Canadian old-age plan and US Social Security.

Description: This article compares various Social Security reform proposals and offers a framework for viewing proposals that provides an analysis of the options on the basis of specific sets of principles and assumptions. From: The Actuary, September 1999 – volume 33 - Issue 7.