Retirement Report, Spring 2023

Now Live: The Academy’s Social Security Challenge

The Academy’s new Social Security Challenge went live in March. Offering a look at the popular program’s funding and reform options, the interactive tool is a timely contribution to the public dialogue, and in line with the Academy’s public policy mission.

The Challenge immerses users in an animated trek through “Townsville,” where users can learn about the program’s challenges and try their hand at various reform proposals. Give it a try and share it with your friends and colleagues. Take the Challenge.

“Assuring that Social Security stays strong into the future means evaluating very different reform options with complex and wide-ranging impacts, such as making higher levels of income subject to payroll taxes or raising the retirement age, and then implementing the chosen approaches,” said Academy Senior Pension Fellow Linda K. Stone. Read the Academy news release.

Media Coverage

The Academy shared the Challenge’s launch with legislators, stakeholders in the retirement space, and the news media to inform the important ongoing dialogue about the solvency issue facing Social Security, and possible solutions, based on our extensive work in this area.

The launch generated media coverage among several prominent outlets. CNBC, Forbes, MarketWatch and MarketWatch’s Retirement Weekly, The Arizona Republic, The Street’s Retirement Daily, Think Advisor, Go Banking Rates (reprinted by AOL News and Yahoo! Finance), and Financial Planning all reported on the release. The Columbian (Wash.) reprinted a column from the Los Angeles Times citing data from the Challenge, and CNN mentioned the Academy’s Social Security-related work in a story discussed raising the retirement age—one of the reform options in the Challenge.

Trustees Report—Issue Brief, Webinar Set

In late March, the Social Security Committee sent a letter to members of Congress offering insights on the Challenge, in advance of the annual Social Security Trustees Report, which was released on March 31. The report showed that Social Security’s trust funds are projected to have sufficient revenue to pay benefits until 2034—one year earlier than estimated in last year’s report. Read the Academy alert.

The Pension Practice Council (PPC) plans to release an issue brief on the report soon, and will host an April 25 webinar, “Social Security Trustees Report: A Deep-Dive Discussion With the Program’s Actuaries,” which will feature Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration. The webinar will discuss the assumptions and how residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent developments like updated data on inflation and output are reflected in projections. Register today.

Contingencies Feature; Essential Elements Updated

Recent Academy publications also covered the Challenge and Social Security issues. The March/April issue Contingencies cover story “Are You Up for the Challenge?” previewed why the Academy updated the Challenge from the previous Social Security Game.

A new Essential Elements paper, Raising the Social Security Retirement Age, presents a more public-facing digest of the Social Security Committee’s March 2022 issue brief of the same name.

Pension Volunteers Visit Federal Agencies

PPC Volunteers at the Department of Labor

Academy Pension Practice Council (PPC) volunteers visited government agencies including the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Congressional Research Service. They discussed agency priorities surrounding retirement, pensions, and Social Security, and recent and upcoming Academy work on retirement issues, including the newly released Social Security Challenge.

‘Hill Visits’ Coming Soon

The PPC is also planning “Hill Visits” later this spring—virtual and in-person meetings with federal lawmakers and policymakers on and around Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

May 18 Webinar to Look at Fixed Rate Practice Note

Join the Public Plans Committee for next month’s webinar, “Fixed-Rate Pension Funding: A Discussion of the Practice Note,” which will feature presenters discussing the Public Plans Committee’s February practice note, Fixed Rate Pension Funding.

The committee published the practice note detailing considerations for working with public defined benefit pension plans that use fixed-rate funding; it begins by addressing a straightforward case of a plan with a fixed contribution rate defined in statute, only one tier of benefits, no automatic adjustments to the rate or to benefits, and not yet fully funded.

The webinar is set for May 18—register today.

Available On-Demand: Pension Webinars Look at Capital Markets, Public Plans Practice Note

Slides and audio are available free to logged-in Academy members for the following pension webinars held earlier this year:

Capital Markets

In “Capital Market Outlook—What to Expect After 2022’s Roller-Coaster Ride,” Evan Inglis and Jerry Mingione presented, and Pension Committee member Maria Moliterno moderated. Presenters discussed the inflation spike that followed historically low interest rates and high capital market pricing, and whether this is the “new normal.”

Pension Practice Note

The February webinar, “Measuring Pension Obligations for Difficult-to-Value Plan Provisions: A Discussion of the Practice Note,” offered a deep dive into the practice note of the same name released in December, in which presenters discussed applicable actuarial standards of practice. Pension Committee member Rachel Barnes moderated.

Public Employment Opportunity

The Social Security Administration is seeking a deputy chief actuary for short-range estimates. The incumbent is responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating the development of the short-range cost estimates for all Social Security programs, both under current provisions and proposed changes in law or regulations. For more information and to apply, see the posting at USA Jobs.

The Academy has long supported government employers who are seeking to hire qualified actuaries. For more information, see our Public Employment Opportunity Posting Policy.

Pension News in Brief

• The collaborative U.S.-based actuarial organizations’ Intersector Group released notes from its January meetings with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• The Pension and Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation committees sent a letter to congressional leadership offering an actuarial perspective on retirement-related legislation that was ultimately adopted as part of the omnibus budget bill Congress passed before adjourning late last year. Read the Academy alert.
• The PBGC released its fiscal year 2022 annual report, examining the effectiveness of its multiemployer and single-employer insurance program. Read the Academy alert.
• The Multiemployer Plans Committee submitted comments to the PBGC on the PBGC’s proposed rule that provides interest rate assumptions regarding a withdrawing employer’s liability under a multiemployer plan.