November 2012

Notes from the Editor

By Raymond Berry


A variety of articles are included in this issue, as usual. All of them should be of interest to you.

For one article, we interviewed three long-term, successful, pension actuaries. Candid answers were provided on topics such as personal traits responsible for their success and advice to young actuaries entering the retirement practice area. Sample comments:

  • One actuary, after retiring from his primary career, is obtaining a doctorate in economics.
  • Another recommends college students take a course in business writing, not creative writing, if such a course is available.
  • Another recommends we all focus on international retirement issues, not limiting ourselves to issues in Canada and the United States.

Other topics include financial advice, resources for actuaries, running out of money, a summary of the recently released GASB statements and “Dogbert’s Retirement Planning Service.”

Are you on LinkedIn? If so, please be sure to join the Pension Section subgroup, which is part of the SOA group, and post an article, a link to an article, or a comment or question. Respond to another’s post. This is a great way to connect with other Pension Section members of the SOA.

If you were not able to attend the SOA annual meeting this year, be sure to search for the handouts, which will be posted on the SOA website. Retirement security was one topic presented.

Thanks to all the authors for their contributions to this issue.

Please send us any articles that you feel may be of interest to others in the Pension Section.

Raymond Berry, ASA, EA, MAAA, MSPA, is consulting actuary at Alliance Pension Consultants in Deerfield, Ill. He can be reached at rberry@alliancepension.com.