"[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, and to revise 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. These rules are necessary to ensure that the tables conform to the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries and published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2020[.]" MORE >>
Official guidance issued by IRS, DOL, HHS and other federal agencies
Laws and bills from federal, state and local governments.
Analysis and explanations published online by law firms, consulting firms and others.
Benefits-related items from popular news media and trade publications.
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"When people ignorant of the workings of defined benefit plans propose reforms to save money they come up with SCR170 in the last legislative session and SCR38 this time which creates a cash balance plan for new participants and those with less than 5 years of service ... What needs to be understood is that a cash balance plan IS a defined benefit plan with funding rules and investment risk shouldered by the plan sponsor and can be just as expensive as a plan with a benefit formula based on a percentage of salary and service." MORE >>
"[T]he longevity for public safety officers is not actually too different from private pension white collar workers or from non-teacher government employees. But that's from age 25, at the start of a career. What about at what is considered normal retirement age for many people -- age 65? ... [S]afety officer life expectancy is not so much lower to support retiring at age 50, fifteen years than most other American get to do." MORE >>
"Between 1959 and 2016, US life expectancy increased from 69.9 years to 78.9 years but declined for 3 consecutive years after 2014. The recent decrease in US life expectancy culminated a period of increasing cause-specific mortality among adults aged 25 to 64 years that began in the 1990s, ultimately producing an increase in all-cause mortality that began in 2010.... By 2014, midlife mortality was increasing across all racial groups, caused by drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, suicides, and a diverse list of organ system diseases." MORE >>
"By comparing workers' current job characteristics with those that individuals desire, we show that people would like preretirement jobs to be less cognitively and physically demanding and more sociable compared to their current jobs. We also find that most workers worry about their health and the demands of their jobs when they think about their future work trajectory, but relatively few were worried that their employers would retain them. Having access to part-time jobs, and expected longevity were less important predictors of retirement." MORE >>
"After declining for decades, the share of people in the United States ages 55 to 79 who were employed began to increase in the mid-1990s: In 1995, 33 percent of people in that age range worked, but by 2018, 44 percent did.... The changes in employment of people ages 55 to 79 -- the period during which many people stop working -- were related to changes in their demographic characteristics and the jobs they held, as well as to changes in Social Security." MORE >>
"Travelers are union workers who pursue work outside their home state.... When the traveler works in another jurisdiction, the pension contributions can either be made directly to the plan maintained by the foreign jurisdiction or the contributions can be sent back, 'reciprocated,' to the pension plan in the travelers' home state.... [T]he 9th Circuit held that PPA (Pension Protection Act) contributions made to a pension plan in rehabilitation status cannot be kept by the foreign pension fund and must be reciprocated to the Travelers' Home Fund. The effect of this decision is to increase the pension of these traveling workers." [Lehman v. Nelson, No. 18-35321 (9th Cir. Jun. 12, 2019)]
"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.... The revised present value factors apply to survivor reductions or employee annuities that commence on or after October 1, 2019."
"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.... The revised present value factors apply to survivor reductions or employee annuities that commence on or after October 1, 2019."
"The plaintiffs in all four cases allege that the actuarial assumptions being used are 'unreasonable' and as a result, certain pension recipients have been underpaid.... To resolve these claims, the courts may need to address whether actuarial assumptions must be reasonable at all times. Currently, most lawyers and actuaries believe actuarial assumptions need to be reasonable when the pension benefit is initially accrued." MORE >>
25 pages. "[This paper] explores three initiatives to help people make better-informed work and retirement decisions: [1] establishing that age 70 is the nation's full retirement age; [2] restating 401(k) balances as flows of retirement income; and [3] instituting workplace seminars for employees in their 50s about the advantages of working longer. [It then] turns to the employer's side with two proposals: [1] reintroducing mandatory retirement ... and [2] undertaking a massive public education campaign to make the business case for older workers."
"In 1980, there were 19 adults 65 years and older in America for every 100 people between 18 to 64[.] ... This ratio ... increased to a ratio of 21 to 100 in 2010.... However, between 2010 and 2017 ... the ratio of retiree-aged people to working-aged people [increased] to 25 for every 100.... The concern of this stress on retirement programs ... came to light when the first wave of baby boomers turned 65 in 2011. An additional 10,000 turn 65 each day ... and with declining birth rates (the lowest in 30 years), the concern continues to grow."
"Over the next seven years, rising pension costs will require cities to nearly double the percentage of their General Funds they pay to CalPERS.... Without fundamental changes, cities will have to choose between cutting services or raising taxes.... There are three things we should do now ... First, cities and the state should set aside 2 to 3% of their budgets to pay down their unfunded liabilities. Second, cities and the state should look for cuts and new revenue sources now, not wait until pension costs begin to crowd out funding for basic services. Third, and most importantly, we must revise the California Rule."
"This letter is ... a ruling on the effect of an amendment changing the interest rate lookback month with respect to preconversion benefits under section 411(b)(5) ... and the regulations thereunder, following the conversion of a defined benefit pension plan ... to a cash balance plan that is intended to be a statutory hybrid plan under section 411(a)(13).... [P]resent value determinations [prior to conversion] were based on interest rates for the lookback month that is the first full calendar month preceding the Plan Year in which the annuity starting date occurs.... [Under the plan amendment, for any distribution having an annuity starting date after the year in which the conversion occurred,] the Look-back Month [became] the month of September in the Plan Year preceding the Plan Year in which the annuity starting date occurs."
"This notice extends the temporary nondiscrimination relief for closed defined benefit plans that is provided in Notice 2014-5 ... by making that relief available for plan years beginning before 2019 if the conditions of Notice 2014-5 are satisfied."
35 pages, dated July 2016, revised on Aug. 18, 2016. Covers November 2016 Pension EA-2 (Segment F) Examination, May 2017 Basic EA-1 Examination, and May 2017 Pension EA-2 (Segment L) Examination. "Candidates are urged to develop a thorough understanding of the conditions generally or specifically applicable to all examination questions as set forth later in this examination program. Conditions for each examination will be included in the applicable examination booklets."
"U.S. state and local employee pension plans are in trouble -- and much of it is because of flaws in the actuarial science used to manage their finances. Making it worse, standard actuarial practice masks the true extent of the problem by ignoring the best financial science -- which shows the plans are even more underfunded than taxpayers and plan beneficiaries have been told. The bad news is we are facing a gap of $6 trillion in benefits already earned and not yet paid for, several times more than the official tally."
31 pages. "The final rule modifies the reporting waiver under the current regulation tied to aggregate plan underfunding of $15 million or less to be based on non-stabilized interest rates. In addition, the final rule adds new reporting waivers for smaller plans and for plans that must file solely on the basis of either a statutory lien resulting from missed contributions over $1 million or outstanding minimum funding waivers exceeding the same amount (provided the missed contributions or applications for minimum funding waivers were previously reported to PBGC). The final rule also provides alternative methods of compliance for reporting certain actuarial information and makes a few technical changes to the regulation."
"Sure, computers are getting better, but how's that relevant for making people younger? ... In recent decades, biology and medicine has to an increasing extent started to become an information technology. With computers we can now, among other things: [1] Read human genes; [2] Edit genes with CRISPR/Cas9, a revolutionary technology that has been adopted by laboratories worldwide. Still better technologies for gene editing are under development.... So medicine is about to become an information technology, and that's the main reason why we can expect medical technology to advance exponentially in the future."
13 pages. "The scope of the Exposure Draft should be expanded to discuss the application of Code Section 411 (a)(9) and Section 415 to VAPs.... The Exposure Draft should include empirical data and analysis supporting the use of a 'pure' VAP as the baseline for discussion of liability measurement and lump sum determination for a VAP.... The Exposure Draft should encourage actuaries to disclose benefit determination and regulatory uncertainties known to the actuary, the financial implications of such uncertainties, and if the actuary is relying on outside counsel or the plan administrator for plan document and/ or regulatory interpretations."
"The withdrawal assessment exceeds half of Rubber Associates' annual sales in 2009, 2010, and 2011 ... The parties agree that a complete withdrawal has happened in this case, and that ERISA and the MPPAA require a contributing employer to pay withdrawal liability upon its exit from a multiemployer pension plan. The parties disagree, however, on whether we should create federal common law under ERISA to carve out special liability rules for contributing employers which are forced out of pension funds due to union-mandated withdrawal.... Allowing employers to reduce or eliminate their withdrawal liability even when faced with a union-mandated withdrawal is not essential to the promotion of fundamental ERISA policies." [United Food and Commercial Workers Union-Employer Pension Fund v. Rubber Assoc., Inc., No. 15-3434 (6th Cir. Feb. 4, 2016)]
"The following tables provide historical and projected populations of the Social Security area by single year of age, gender, marital status, and year for the period December 1940 through December 2090.... (Projected values contained in these files are based on the intermediate assumptions of the 2015 Trustees Report) In each file, the first column gives the year and the second column gives the age. The remaining columns have headings that display the gender and marital status." MORE >>
"The decision to de-risk is a complicated one, and it is often driven by a company's CFO.... But given that these deals can leave retirees and employees feeling alienated and confused, it's critical for HR to insert itself in the process. Indeed, deciding to de-risk provides a good opportunity for HR to partner with finance and work through the details of these transactions together."
26 pages. "Over the next two decades there will be a surge in giving by retirees: America's $8 trillion 'Longevity Bonus.' Three forces are converging to create this new phenomenon: [1] The movement of the massive boomer generation into their retirement years; [2] Increasing longevity, which means more people may spend more years in retirement; and [3] High rates of giving among retired men and women (especially women) -- of both money and time.... [This study] is an in-depth exploration of the priorities, rewards, and challenges of giving in retirement." MORE >>
