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 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: On May 7th, Barbara Castle, the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Social Services, announced major changes in the details of the Social Security Act-1973. This article summarizes those changes.

Description: This 1981 article is a discussion of pension reform in Canada, noting that in the last four years there have five government-commissioned studies, resulting in various recommendations covering government and private sector plans. There was consensus on several conclusions - namely that there is too much poverty among the elderly, particularly women, current vesting and portability rules hurt mobile workers, and inflation needs to be addressed.

Description: This article on pensions and tax expenditures discusses the problems in the development of the numbers provided by the Office of Management and Budget. Tax reform proposals that quantify increases in tax revenue that would result from elimination of tax advantages of qualified pension plans are flawed in the author's opinion.

Description: This is an article from The Actuary that discusses the need to reform defined benefit plans. The number of defined benefit plans in the United States has declined significantly over the past 20 years. If Congress overlooks the interests of plan sponsors in its reform, we're likely to witness further erosion of an already weakened defined benefit system, and America's workers would be the ultimate losers.

Description: Book Review: Pension Plans and Public Policy. The authors bring a wealth of experience from their years at TIAA-Cref to this most lucid discussion of the relationship between public policy,social security, and private and public pension plans.

Description: This article provides a summary of the Pension and Employee Benefit Act of 1967 bill S.1103 introduced by Senator Javits of New York. If enacted, it would have far reaching implications.

Description: This Eugene Strum article is about what changes happened in the contributions to employer-sponsored benefit plans after The Arizona Government Committee vs. Norris.

Description: This article discusses the non-qualified market opportunities presented by the new limitations imposed on qualified pension plans.