Description: A frustrating aspect of pension funding rules for U.S. plan sponsors is that contribution requirements are adversely correlated with business cycles. For example, not only did plan sponsors get hit with large contribution requirements in the perfect storm of the early 2000s, but many sponsors were prohibited from contributing in the late 1990s boom due to full funding limitations. This is the abstract of a paper that proposes that plan sponsors be allowed to contribute the normal cost as a deductible contribution each year. In hindsight, this would have allowed plan sponsors to pay for benefits as they accrued in the late 1990s and ultimately mitigated some of the crash of the early 2000s. The authors aim to demonstrate that a contribution policy allowing contributions to be at least equal to the normal cost will result in less volatility of contributions and improve the funded status over time.

Description: Abstract for the 2009 Housing Wealth monograph paper, “Retirement Implications of Housing Wealth Spending”. This paper explores comparative trends in home ownership versus renters, the associated levels of housing expenditures, and the extent of equity borrowing. The goal is to stress the need in retirement to cover basic housing needs and the risks of using housing for other purposes.

Description: The abstract for the paper Tax Considerations in a Mandatory Universal Pension System.

Description: A case study on starting the actuarial profession in a new location - in this case Kazakhstan.

Description: The editor discusses the importance of purchasing a long-term care insurance policy. He also presents highlights of the articles contained in the issue.

Description: The abstract for the paper What if Mortality was to Diminish Much More than Forecasted? Implications for Financing Social Security.

Description: The abstract for the paper The Interdependency of Increasing Life Expectancy and Driving Life Expectancy of Elderly Populations.

Description: The abstract for the paper Adapting Banking Models to Insurer ERM.

Description: The abstract for the paper ERM and the Failure of Risk Management: An Asian Perspective.

Description: A recent study sheds light on the measurement and implications of the relationship between increased morbidity and declining disability. The results were not consistent across all populations. This study of the compression of morbidity is part of a wider project called the M-project, led by the four authors, which aims to explore the demographic factors leading to an increase in the adult longevity, investigate the phenomenon called the compression of mortality and develop a new methodological approach to longevity analysis with focus on the modal age at death M.