Description: Actuaries can be well suited to provide consulting to both DB and DC plans. We focus on DC design and the important nondiscrimination test requirements that need to be at the core of a plan design project. Plan design for DC plans seems easy, but should not be looked at any less seriously than DB plan design. The key steps are the same as DB plan design. We review key concepts that plan design actuaries want to know.

Description: The 2020 ERISA Advisory Council of the Department of Labor had a project on Considerations for Recognizing and Addressing Participants with Diminished Capacity. I delivered testimony to the ERSIA Advisory Council on this topic in September 2020. This article summarizes some key points from the testimony and also offers ideas for how employers can help employees and retirees deal with these issues. There are two different audiences that employers deal with as a result of diminished capacity – the individuals whose capacity is diminished, and those who help them.

Description: This article describes several uses of pension surplus assets and makes a case for maintaining and growing a surplus.

Description: Read the chairperson's annual newsletter to learn more about the Retirement Section Council's (RSC) activities and new members of the leadership team, including the 2024 chairperson.

Description: The article provides a summary of key issues presented at the 2023 U.S. Living to 100 Symposium focused on the interests of retirement professionals and retirees. It provides an overview of the subjects covered. The discussion focused on the well-being of retirees and the development of the retirement system. It is focused on late-in-life issues and having the best life possible during that period. It balances technical and lifestyle issues, with an emphasis on mortality and longevity trends and influences. Some of the topics discussed include the impact of COVID, climate, housing, and age-friendly communities. The Elder Tech Symposium was merged into Living to 100 and includes discussion of a variety of technology approaches to improve lives and simplify support. The symposium recognized that the decisions needed and concerns during retirement are different later in life, particularly as people decline.

Description: The SOA Research Institute has executed research for over twenty years on some repeating themes and topics. The reports build on each other and add content. This article summarizes and discusses a summary report on long-term care, caregiving and housing linked to long-term care and caregiving.

Description: Interview with Karen Lockridge, FSA, FCIA and Francisca Quinn regarding fiduciary concerns with and future outlook for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing.

Description: Discusses SOA research report evaluating pension de-risking strategies.

Description: The SECURE Act of 2019 requires an annual disclosure to participants in defined contribution plans. The intention is to help participants understand the relationship between their account balances and the estimated retirement income—that might be provided from those balances. But the disclosure requirements lack the features needed to provide meaningful information to many participants, which can be misleading if not well understood. Consequently, this provides an opportunity for actuaries to work with retirement plan sponsors to improve the disclosures.

Description: Update from the Chairperson