Description: This article provides an update on various legislative and regulatory activities including, allowing individual variable annuities, federal standard for fiductiary responsibitlity with respect to pensions, policy loan interest rate and credit insurance issues.

Description: Describes changes to the detailed funding rules for defined benefit pension plans found in the regulations of the various federal and provincial acts in Canada.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 1. This article discusses the impact of a change in procedure in the financing of the US Military Retirement System. The change requires amortizing the past service liability. The impact will depend upon whether the amortization is achieved by increasing current taxes and decreasing the current deficit, or by merely increasing the national debt and leaving the current deficit unchanged. The author asserts that the new financing method will not weaken the financial condition of the military retirement system, and that it has the potential to strengthen its financial condition if the funding of the past service liability is handled appropriately.

Description: The author reflects on the development and evolution of pension law since ERISA became effective in 1974. From: The Actuary, September 1999 – volume 33 - Issue 7.

Description: This brief article notes that in a recent decision the U.S. Supreme Court touched on a fundamental issue of employee benefits philosophy, in holding that defined benefit pension plans must grant benefit accrual credit for periods of military service. The author argues that this seems contrary to current attitudes.

Description: The Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 87. Employers’ Accounting for Pensions, became effective in 1987. This is an accounting/actuarial standard with significant income statement and balance sheet implications. This article discuses the results of a survey of selected affected companies regarding the impact of this standard.

Description: Article from The Actuary, October 1971 – volume 5 - Issue 8 is a review of report prepared by Frank M. Kleiler for the United States Department of Labor on the European regulation of public and private pension plans.

Description: Discusses extension of the current favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsored pension plans to additional groups and to employee contributions.

Description: This about the issues facing actuaries in retirement systems as well as the support available to them. Some of the more significant issues are: Declining numbers of defined benefit plans, plan underfunding and the PBGC, increased regulatory complexity and compliance, and increased competition and employment opportunities.

Description: This author looks at the post ERISA landscape and concludes that work levels for pension actuaries will not return to pre ERISA levels for some time. Some of the topics discussed include the 1977 Social Security amendments, cleaning up initial ERISA compliance work that was done in haste, increased regulation, litigation, and future legislation.