Description: Part 5 addresses various purposes for measuring a public sector pension liability and which measures have the most practical usefulness.

Description: Exploration of sources of volatility in retiree health valuations, noting how volatility arises and might be mitigated, with discussion of valuation parameters more problematic for retiree health benefits than for pensions. Three significant influences on retiree health valuation volatility are covered-- changes in benefit level, fluctuations in cost level, and alterations in eligibility for, or duration of, benefit – and attention focused on the last two. Specific conclusions result in recommendations, which are supported by practical examples contrasting volatile measurement results with those likely from the recommended practices. Theoretical discussion includes health claim variation, health trend usage, financial economics, option pricing, discount rates, and deterministic vs. stochastic modeling.

Description: Panel discusses the selection of both economic and demographic assumptions in funding pension plans. They include the impact on selection of economic assumptions from the recently released Actuarial Standard of Practice [ASOP] No. 27, 'Selection of Economic Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations.' From the 1997 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Description: Discussion of competing theories for valuing public pension liabilities. Emphasis on revised Actuarial Standards of Practice that focus on the purpose of the measurement.

Description: This panel discussion session reported on the status and content of the Actuarial Standards Board standard dealing with the selection of assumptions. The discussion covers what the effects would be on practitioners.

Description: The author delves into other important parts that should be in the scope of model validation besides the code.

Description: Actuaries may soon be required to select assumptions that are individually reasonable when measuring pension obligations. This is the core meaning of a proposed amendment to the Actuarial Standard of Practice #4 in addition to the proposed ASOP on economic assumptions.

Description: In this paper, a general model for a pension plan involving growth with respect to the population, salaries, and retirement benefits is used to study contribution patterns that may arise under different actuarial cost methods. Detailed results are presented for the case where the growth of population and the growth of salaries are described by exponential functions. Economic implications are presented and discussed. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1979, Vol. 31.

Description: An extension of a paper published in the 1952 Transactions by the same author, describing and classifying various funding methods for defined benefit pension plans. Followed by discussion papers submitted by several authors.

Description: This article summarizes the approach taken by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries to develop mortality tables and mortality improvement scales for use in Canadian pension plans based on Canadian population data. It also summarizes the additional factors pension actuaries have to consider in using the new tables and scales.