Retirement Report, Winter 2025

June Retirement Symposium to Examine Social Security, Public Policy Issues

Retirement VP Jason Russell opens the June 2024 Retirement SymposiumThe Retirement Practice Council (RPC) will host a “Future of Retirement” Symposium in June, following the success of last June’s inaugural retirement symposium that highlighted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974’s (ERISA) 50th anniversary.

The symposium will connect attendees with policymakers and other thought leaders in the retirement and financial security space on this theme. Spotlighting recent and current Academy and RPC work, the event will consider future opportunities related to ERISA, consider the future for public and private pension plans, and highlight the fact that 2025 marks Social Security’s 90th anniversary.

With a new presidential administration in Washington, D.C., the event will be a timely opportunity to engage with a wide spectrum of stakeholders to discuss the future needs and prospective solutions to policy issues around the financial solvency of the American retirement system, including Social Security.

Bringing together actuarial expertise and public policy insights, the symposium will address the pressing concerns of those working on retirement issues.

Cross-Practice ‘Hill Visits’ to Include Retirement Issues

Volunteers at the 2024 Hill VisitsThe Academy will hold its annual “Hill visits” this spring. As we’ve done in past years, the Academy and a designated cohort of active volunteers will head to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to meet with federal lawmakers, policymakers, and regulators. They are set for April 2–4.

For the first time, the 2025 visits will be a joint practice-area event. Volunteers from all five Academy practice councils, including the RPC, will visit Senate and House congressional offices, as well as federal agencies and other key stakeholders. The meetings will focus on a variety of key public policy and professionalism issues.

Along with a focus on concerns related to financial security, the solvency of programs like Social Security, and the future of retirement, volunteers will also highlight the value and expertise that actuaries bring to the table.

The meetings serve as a great reminder to elected officials, appointed regulators, and other stakeholders to include actuaries in their discussions, as they evaluate and consider proposals to solve some of the nation’s biggest challenges in retirement and other practice areas.

This year’s visits will be timely and relevant, given the change of administration and increased policy dialogues around public and private retirement systems.

Social Security Chief Actuary Stephen Goss Retires

Myers Award Recipient Was a Longtime Academy Volunteer

Goss at last October’s Envision Tomorrow Social Security sessionStephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the 2013 recipient of the Academy’s Robert J. Myers Public Service Award, retired Jan. 3. The Academy established the Myers Award in 1994—named after Robert Myers, the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary from 1947 to 1970, to honor his lifelong commitment to public service.

“We wish our Chief Actuary Stephen Goss all the best in his retirement after 51 years of outstanding public service,” SSA Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin posted on X. Goss’s “expertise, leadership, and integrity helped our nation’s leaders understand and navigate myriad complex Social Security issues, benefiting millions of Americans along the way.”

Goss has been an active volunteer with the Academy’s Social Security Committee, and was most recently a featured speaker at October’s Envision Tomorrow retirement session on Social Security, which aired nationally on C-SPAN.

Former Deputy Chief Actuary Karen Glenn, also an Academy volunteer, is now SSA’s chief actuary. Glenn has also participated in many Academy events including webinars and in-person retirement sessions, and chairs the Robert J. Myers Award Task Force.

RPC, Pension Committee Meet With Federal Officials

RPC and Pension Committee volunteers held strategic planning meetings in December with external stakeholders, including representatives from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), discussing strategic priorities and anticipated activity in 2025.

The discussions provide valuable insights, particularly as both the RPC and Pension Committee evaluate their priorities and work efforts during the next few years.

Christian Benjaminson Named to ERISA Advisory Council

BenjaminsonAcademy volunteer and past Multiemployer Plans Committee Chairperson Christian Benjaminson was named to the U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council, which provides advice on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by ERISA.

Benjaminson is a vice president and principal consulting actuary at Cheiron Inc., primarily advising multiemployer plans in the trucking, manufacturing, construction, communications, and grocery industries. His appointment follows outgoing council member Tonya Manning, also a longtime Academy retirement volunteer. Benjaminson discussed multiemployer issues in a November 2021 episode of the Academy’s podcast, Actuary Voices.

Academy Volunteers Lead NIRS Webinar

Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation Committee Chairperson Claire Wolkoff and committee member Connie Rydberg led “A Conversation on Improving Retirement Outcome,” a Dec. 11 National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) webinar.

The discussion drew from the policy paper Improving Retirement Outcomes: Demographic Consideration, which reviews data on adverse retirement outcomes for certain cohorts of individuals and presents possible plan design and public policy approaches to address them.

Past Retirement VPs Geddes, Greenblum Join ABCD

Greenblum
Geddes Past Academy Retirement Vice Presidents Tim Geddes and Eli Greenblum are new appointees to the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD). Geddes was most recently vice president of professionalism and education.

Each was appointed to a three-year term, and they replace Tammy Dixon and Richard Kutikoff, who rolled off the ABCD.