Description: This meeting session, which occurred at the June 1980 SOA meeting in San Deigo, covered economic assumptions for pension plans. Topics included: 1. How should an Inflation Assumption be chosen? 2. Who should and can be involved in the process? 3. What Economic Assumptions are used for Social Security Canadian and U. S. projections? 4. What is the future of productivity and general wage increases? 5. How are Turnover and Retirement Age Assumptions related to Economic assumptions? 6. Are actuaries using variable or indexed Economic Assumptions? How are they doing it? 7. Should Economic Assumptions vary by plan size? By Benefit design? By valuation method? By investment strategy?, and 8. How should the assumptions be communicated to the plan sponsor? From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 6, No. 3.

Description: This is a summary of 1972 discussions about: 1. the past and future dynamics of North American retirement systems, 2. alternatives for pension legislation, and 3. actuarial principles and practices for pension plans. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 2D, No. 68.

Description: This article discusses how much should defined-benefit pension plan assets be and should actuaries decide the answer to this question?

Description: This is a discussion about the Opinion No. 8 Bulletin on accounting for the cost of pension plans that was recently issued by the Accounting Principles Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the effect this bulletin will have on the preparation of actuarial valuations of pension plans. Also discussed is the use of level-premium life insurance in connection with employee benefit plans and the underwriting, actuarial and other problems encountered in the design and marketing of such plans. Finally, the discussion moves to the marketing, underwriting and administration of vision care and prescription drug benefits, and the advantages and disadvantages of providing survivor benefits in group life and qualified pension plans. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1967, Vol. 19 Pt. 2, No. 53.

Description: The following topics were discussed at concurrent sessions: 1. Pension benefit security bill, 2. Variable insurance products, 3. Trends in hospital and medical care utilization, 4. Insurance distribution and marketing systems, 5. Deferred and incentive compensation, 6. Annual Statement accounting, 7. Social Security and employee benefits in western Europe, 8. Individual medical expense insurance, 9. Reserves and related problems for variable annuities and cost-of-living benefits, 10. Topics for consulting actuaries, 11. Profit and other objectives in group operations, and 12. Life insurance operations overseas- problems and opportunities. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries, 1969 Vol. 21 Pt. 1 No. 61.

Description: This panel discussion is from the 1991 Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held June 3-5 in Colorado Springs. The panelists discuss the considerations and factors in selecting an interest rate assumption for a pension plan, looking at the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, ‘ERISA,’ the Financial Accounting Standards Board, ‘FASB,’ current liability, the effect of Internal Revenue Service, ‘IRS’ audit guidelines and audit programs, and the effect of other assumptions. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries Vol. 17, No. 3A.

Description: This 1981 discussion session focuses on funding policy for pension Plans in the United States and Canada from the plan sponsor's viewpoint. Topics include: 1.Alternative uses of cash, 2. Selection of the actuarial cost method, 3. Selection of actuarial assumptions, 4. External constraints such as regulatory constraints, labor agreements, accounting constraints and government contract reimbursement, 5. Use of projections and immunization theory, and 6. The effect of investment strategy on funding policy.

Description: This 1991 panel discussion: 1. Compares and contrasts standards set by various U.S and Canadian agencies- FASB, CICA, GASB, and IRS- for calculations under the Projected Unit Credit Cost Method, 2. Discusses certain types of retirement and ancillary benefits that are not easily handled under the Projected Unit Credit Cost Method, and 3. Provides insight into the nuances of using the Projected Unit Credit Cost Method for pension expense and funding purposes. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 17, No. 3B.

Description: This is a discussion about employee benefit plans after retirement. The following questions are addressed: 1. To what extent are death benefits and medical benefits for employees and dependents kept in force after the employee retires?, 2. Where there is a continuation of such benefits for a retired employee or his dependent, what special problems can result from remarriage or reemployment, or in the event of the enactment of a federal plan?, 3. What methods of paying for or funding such costs are used?, and 4. What are the tax implications to both the employee and employer of the various approaches? Also discussed are insured vs. non-insured plans and valuation standards for pension plans. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1964, Vol. 16 Pt. 2.