The Intersector Group released notes of its April 2015 meeting with the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.
( )The Intersector Group released notes of its April 2015 meeting with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
( )Ellen Kleinstuber, vice-chairperson of the Academy’s Pension Committee, testified at an ERISA Advisory Council hearing on model notices and disclosures to help defined benefit plan participants understand their options when offered lump-sum distributions in a pension risk transfer transaction.
( )Donald Fuerst, senior pension fellow, submitted written testimony to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging for its hearing on “Bridging the Gap: How Prepared are Americans for Retirement?”
( )The Pension Committee sent a comment letter to the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) regarding the second exposure draft of the proposed Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) on modeling standards.
( )The Pension Committee sent a comment letter regarding potential improvements in the operation of IRC Section 436 while still protecting the funded status of pension plans.
( )The Pension Committee sent a comment letter to the IRS regarding the use of mortality tables to calculate pension funding requirements for the years after 2015.
( )Janet Barr, former chairperson of the Academy’s Social Security Committee, submitted post-hearing testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance following its hearing on “Social Security: Is a Key Foundation of Economic Security Working for Women?”
( )Pension Practice Council (PPC) sent a letter to Treasury Department regarding the benefits of allowing qualified defined benefit pension plans to provide longevity annuities directly, rather than requiring them to purchase an insurance contract.
( )Pension Committee sent a comment letter to the PBGC regarding interpretation of plan provisions governing actuarial equivalence.
( )Janet Barr, former chairperson of the Academy’s Social Security Committee, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing on “Social Security: Is a Key Foundation of Economic Security Working for Women?” Read the written testimony and news release or watch the full hearing video.
( )The Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries (JBEA) has asked the Academy to alert its members that the JBEA is seeking applications from enrolled actuaries to serve on its Advisory Committee on Actuarial Examinations. The committee is responsible for reviewing, editing, and finalizing examination questions, reviewing statistical results of the examination, and other activities. The application period closes on Dec. 5.
( )The Social Security Committee released an issue brief on the 2014 Social Security Trustees Report that examines the social insurance program’s long-term solvency and states that Congress should act soon to improve the long-term financial outlook of Social Security.
( )The Joint Committee on Retiree Health sent a letter to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board commenting on proposed statements of accounting and financial reporting by governmental employers for other postemployment benefits (OPEBs).
( )The Pension Committee's Public Plans Subcommittee sent a letter to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board commenting on an Exposure Draft on accounting and financial reporting for pension plans that are not administered through trusts and amendments to certain provisions of GASB Statements 67 and 68.
( )The Pension Committee sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department regarding guidance needed regarding the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014.
( )The Academy published a new Essential Elements paper, Securing Social Security, which examines the long-term solvency challenges facing the nation’s largest social insurance program and approaches that could provide adequate long-term financing for the program. Essential Elements is a series designed to make actuarial analyses of public policy issues clearer to general audiences.
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