Description: Understanding U.S. defined-benefit plan annual funding notice definitions and what they are meant to represent is a key to understanding how “healthy” or “unhealthy” a pension plan is. This article offers a description of several types of funded status measurements and their applications under the rules mandated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to fund private employer-sponsored defined-benefit pension plans.

Description: This brief article notes that in a recent decision the U.S. Supreme Court touched on a fundamental issue of employee benefits philosophy, in holding that defined benefit pension plans must grant benefit accrual credit for periods of military service. The author argues that this seems contrary to current attitudes.

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: A new mortality valuation standard, the 1994 Group Annuity Reserve Table, is being proposed for new group pension business. This article discusses the industry concerns with the change from a static table to a generational table based upon mortality improvement factors.

Description: The U.S. Internal Revenue Code prohibits qualified pension and profit sharing plans from discriminating in favor of highly compensated employees. It states that a plan is not discriminatory merely because contributions or benefits are a uniform percentage of pay. In addition, the code allows some disparity between highly compensated employees and other employees with respect to their contributions or benefits as a percentage of pay.

Description: This article provides an excerpt from the PBGC Actuarial Valuation Report with greater detail concerning the valuation of future benefits than is presented in the PBGC's Annual Report for 2000.

Description: Feature article about the different types of retirement systems throughout the world and how watching what they do could help the U.S. retirement system.

Description: Discusses the recent changes to U.K. pensions legislation.

Description: The author notes in this 1981 article that after two years’ work the President’s Commission on Pension Policy has recommended major changes in the U.S. private pension and Social Security systems. These include a highly controversial proposal to require a Minimum Universal Pension System MUPS, and various other less significant changes. The impact on legislation is much in question, given that the President appointing the Commission is now out of office. The article notes further that since the costs and savings of the proposals have not been quantified, actuaries have a chance to step in and render a public service.

Description: This article discusses three employee benefits related lawsuits- Russell v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Textile Workers Pension Fund v. Standard Dye and Finishing Company, and International UAW v. Yardman, Inc.