News Archive

"This final rule ... prescribe[s] the spreads component of the interest assumption under the asset allocation regulation for plans with valuation dates of July 31, 2026-October 30, 2026. These interest assumptions are used for valuing benefits under terminating single-employer plans and for other purposes."  MORE >>

"The gateway is not the full nondiscrimination test; it is a threshold that must be met before the plan can use more favorable combined testing. In practice, it is supposed to prevent a plan from giving HCEs richer DB/DC combinations while NHCEs get only token allocations."  MORE >>

"[O]ne line item, for the [PBGC] ... asked Congress for $1 billion, 'to increase the benefit levels for participants of certain pension plans that were sponsored by Delphi Corporation and terminated as a result of General Motors' bankruptcy.' And just like that, new life was given to the long-simmering question of whether up to 20,000 nonunion retirees who say they saw their benefits cut, some by as much as 30%-70% initially after the Obama administration ran GM through a structured bankruptcy to prevent its financial ruin, might be made whole at last."  MORE >>

"[To] be effective any [Asset Liability Management (ALM)] study requires careful consideration of both system assets and liabilities and ... how to integrate these elements appropriately to examine key areas of interest.... Actuaries are critical to understanding how economic assumptions influence plan liabilities and tradeoffs involving plan funding. If an actuarial perspective is not present in the key policy discussions, the decision-makers may miss important information[.]"  MORE >>

"Public pension fund managers have run the same accounting maneuver for fifty years. It is entirely legal, widely practiced, and engineered to make a structural debt problem look like a funding gap. The logic is circular: decide what return you expect to earn, then use that number as the rate at which you discount what you owe. The higher the assumed return, the smaller the reported liability. The smaller the liability, the lower the required contribution. The lower the contribution, the more comfortable everyone in the room feels -- until the bill arrives. That is where American public pension accounting stands in 2026."  MORE >>

"Up to 33% of the SFA may be invested in return-seeking assets. The remaining SFA must be invested in investment-grade fixed-income securities and cash. PBGC says it has received questions about which fixed-income investments qualify as permissible SFA investments and the types of derivative exposure that are allowed. In response, they propose several clarifications and amendments to the investment rules."  MORE >>

"PBGC runs two distinct insurance programs: one for single-employer pensions and a second for multiemployer plans.... PBGC maintains separate reserve funds for each program." [CRS 95-118 updated Jun. 18, 2026; also available: CRS IF10492, PBGC: an Overview]  MORE >>

"The litigation risk around Pension Risk Transfer annuities is increasing, not decreasing.... The new PBGC opinion letter is especially important.... The very reason PBGC says it no longer needs early warning is the same reason retirees suffer a present legal and economic injury."  MORE >>

"[OPM] is providing notice of adjusted present value factors applicable to certain retirees under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS): [1] Retirees who elect to provide survivor annuity benefits to a spouse based on post-retirement marriage; [2] retiring employees who elect the alternative form of annuity; or [3] retirees who elect to credit certain service with nonappropriated fund instrumentalities. This notice is necessary to conform the present value factors to changes in the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System."  MORE >>

"[OPM] is providing notice of adjusted present value factors applicable to certain retirees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS): [1] Retirees who elect to provide survivor annuity benefits to a spouse based on a post-retirement marriage; [2] retiring employees who elect the alternative form of annuity, owe certain redeposits based on refunds of contributions for service ending before March 1, 1991, or elect to credit certain service with nonappropriated fund instrumentalities; or [3] for retirees with certain types of retirement coverage errors who can elect to receive credit for service by taking an actuarial reduction ... This notice is necessary to conform the present value factors to changes in the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System."  MORE >>

"[OPM] is revising the table of reduction factors for early commencing dates of survivor annuities for spouses of separated employees who die before the date on which they would be eligible for unreduced deferred annuities. The annuity factor for spouses of deceased employees who die in service when those spouses elect to receive the basic employee death benefit in 36 installments under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) Act of 1986 remains unchanged."  MORE >>

"The letter... concludes that annuity buyouts involving employees who remain employed generally should not be counted when determining whether a defined benefit plan has experienced an 'active participant reduction' reportable event under [ERISA]. In explaining that conclusion, the agency also reiterated that once pension liabilities have been transferred to an insurer, the PBGC no longer bears responsibility for paying benefits if that insurer later fails."  MORE >>

"An annuity buyout for active participants that will remain employed is not the type of event that the statute or regulation were designed to capture. Though the annuitized individuals will cease to be participants in the Plan, the change in status does not result because of a workforce reduction event of the type contemplated by PBGC's regulations, such as 'a reorganization or restructuring, the discontinuance of an operation or business, a natural disaster, a mass layoff, or an early retirement incentive program.' "  MORE >>

"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"  MORE >>

"MBCBPs are accounted for as DB plans under U.S. GAAP, but stakeholders have raised concerns that there are different interpretations of how ASC guidance applies to MBCBPs, resulting in accounting liabilities not always reflecting the economics of MBCBPs.... By enhancing clarity, consistency, and alignment with the underlying economics of these plans, the new FASB guidance may make MBCBPs a more attractive and feasible option for a wider array of employers."  MORE >>

"[T]he Metz timing rule has no basis in the statutory text.... [T]he relevant statute contains only two requirements for actuarial assumptions. They have to be reasonable, and they have to offer the actuary's best estimate of the plan's anticipated experience. So ... there is an objective and a subjective component. The assumptions must be objectively reasonable, and they subjectively must represent the actuary's judgment, not ... the plan's judgment. What the statute doesn't say is anything about a timing rule." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"The three plans now under PBGC trusteeship are: Retirement Plan for Bargaining Unit Employees of Fostoria and Greenville (FRAM Plan) Cardone Industries, Inc. Union Employees' Pension Plan (Cardone Plan) Dalton Corporation, Warsaw Manufacturing Facility Pension Plan (Dalton Plan) Together, these plans cover 1,630 current and future retirees.... Retirees will continue receiving their full benefits without interruption, and participants who are not yet retired may apply for benefits once they become eligible."  MORE >>

"As the second quarter of 2026 draws to a close, the Pension Risk Transfer market continues to benefit from favorable momentum, with annuity purchase rates continuing their steady increase on this month-to-month basis. The duration 7 annuity purchase interest rate increased 11 basis points from last month, reaching 5.05%, while the duration 15 annuity purchase rate jumped 24 basis points to 5.26%. Both rates now stand at their highest levels since early 2024, presenting an attractive window for plan sponsors exploring pension de-risking solutions."  MORE >>

18 pages. "The [PBGC] is proposing technical corrections, clarifications, and improvements to the restrictions and conditions in its regulation on special financial assistance. These changes would clarify (a) the permissibility of investing special financial assistance in certain securities and (b) the condition requiring PBGC approval for settling withdrawal liability claims. The amendments also would repeal a provision that enabled plans that received special financial assistance to request the reallocation of employer contributions to pay for health benefit costs." [Comment period closes Aug. 17, 2026.]  MORE >>

"Regular reassessment of a corporate pension plan's assumptions keeps them aligned with evolving demographic and economic realities. An experience study enables plan sponsors and their actuaries to identify needed adjustments to better manage cost volatility and secure the plan's long-term financial health."  MORE >>

"[A]ccountants can track the factors that impact the net value of pension liabilities.... [E]mployers should be aware of and assess the viability of continuing to offer DB pension plans.... [P]rofessionals should consider the types and terms of DC plans as a component of the overall benefits offered to employees to determine their feasibility. Lastly, while recent trends in stock market returns and interest rates have helped reduce the financial pressures on pension plans, these trends (not to mention global trade and health crises) can reverse quickly."  MORE >>

"Since September 30, 2025, the CPI has increased by about 3.2%. Projecting monthly increases of 0.25% through September 2026 results in an annual increase of about 4.2% for our 8-month actual/4-month forecast projection."  MORE >>

273 pages. "Since last year's report, the Trustees ... have made changes to the intermediate assumptions in three primary areas. [1] Fertility ... [2] Immigration ... [3] Near-term economics ... In addition, [OBBBA] ... is projected to have a substantial effect on Social Security's financial status.... The OASI Trust Fund is projected to become depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, one quarter earlier than projected in last year's report. Upon reserve depletion in 2032, projected income is sufficient to pay 78 percent of scheduled benefits. This percentage declines gradually to 62 percent by 2100." [Also available: [1] Tables Included in the Report; [2] Figures Included in the Report; [3] Supplemental Single-Year Tables]  MORE >>

"In the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2025, the median public DB plan gained 13.8%, nearly double the median assumed rate of return of 7.0%.... This bodes well for an improvement in funded status across public pension plans. Many use an actuarial smoothing period of five years. Over the last five years, the median public DB plan has an annualized gain of 7.2%."  MORE >>

"MetLife agreed to a $23 million settlement to end a nearly eight-year legal dispute ... [P]laintiffs questioned how MetLife's pension plan calculated the value of joint and survivor annuity payments compared with single annuity payments under both the current and old versions of the plan ... [T]he complaint argued that MetLife used mortality tables from the 1970s and 1980s to make these calculations." [Masten v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., No. 18-11229 (S.D.N.Y. Jun. 14, 2021)]  MORE >>