Description: TECHNICAL UPDATE 00-4 PBGC’s Full Funding Limit Exemption From The Variable Rate Premium from Pension Section News, October 2000, Issue No. 44.

Description: This article presents the findings of an Urban Institute study sponsored by the Pension Section and the Actuarial Foundation examining the election of joint and survivor annuities by married adults. From Pension Section News, June 2004, Issue No. 55.

Description: This article discusses the findings of the Retirement Plan Preferences Survey which asked workers participating in defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans which retirement plans they prefer and what they understand. From Pension Section News, March 2004, Issue No. 54.

Description: Anna and Maria report on the “Older Women in the Future: Adapting to Longer Lives” session that they jointly presented with Terry Kozlowski at last year’s World Future Society Conference, and provide brief summaries of selected other sessions they found interesting and/or surprising.

Description: this article provides a detailed, comprehensive and independent analysis of the impact of introducing the single-tier state pension.

Description: updates on SOA research

Description: This essay explores the role that the emerging defined contribution retirement system may be playing in the growth of wealth inequality in the United States. The current system leaves many Americans with little or no retirement savings. Those with higher accumulation levels appear to invest proportionally more in equities, which may have an exponential effect of balances over long time periods. The author hypothesizes that willingness to take investment risk involves the relationship between the amount an investor has accumulated and what she/he needs in order to cover basic costs of living. This is one reason that investors with greater accumulation levels may be able to earn higher rates of return. The essay concludes by suggesting that the U.S. defined contribution system should include all workers and provide additional fiduciary guidance. Examples reforms, both in the U.S. and other countries, are provided.

Description: This article highlights how Pension Section actuaries are in the forefront of the debate on pension plan funding reform. Over the past year, the SOA Pension Section has been at the forefront of efforts to rethink how employer-sponsored pension plans are funded. Our initiative began in the fall of 2004 with a call for papers, asking members of the consulting, plan sponsor and academic communities to develop proposals that innovatively address the future of pension plan funding—with the goal of creating a better system. In order to provide a forum to discuss the resulting papers and debate various proposals for reform, a symposium was organized for pension experts and stakeholders to meet face-to-face. The symposium, officially titled 'The Future of Pension Plan Funding and Disclosure,' was held in Washington, D.C., on July 14-15, 2005. From Pension Section News, April 2006, No. 61.

Description: This article summarizes 2004 cost-of-living adjustments related to employee benefit plans, including: 1. IRS limits applicable to qualified retirement plans, transportation fringe benefits, adoption assistance programs, medical savings accounts and long-term care plans, 2. PBGC guaranteed benefits, 3. Federal income tax factors, 4. Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, 5. Medicare, and 6. Covered Compensation. From Pension Section News, March 2004, Issue No. 54.

Description: This article gives an overview of retiree health aging curves. This overview is based on the author's paper entitled Aging Curves for Health Care Costs in Retirement which was published in the July, 2005 issue of the North American Actuarial Journal NAAJ. From Pension Section News, January 2006, No. 60.