96-874: The Government Actuary's Department (GAD) provides actuarial solutions including risk analysis, modelling and advice to support the UK public sector. It is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom . In 1912 the Government appointed a chief actuary to the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, following the Old Age Pensions Act 1908 and the National Insurance Act 1911 . As
192-635: A benefit for an employee upon that employee's retirement is a defined benefit plan. In the U.S., corporate defined benefit plans, along with many other types of defined benefit plans, are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). In the United Kingdom , benefits are typically indexed for inflation (known as Retail Prices Index (RPI)) as required by law for registered pension plans. Inflation during an employee's retirement affects
288-463: A London draper named John Graunt showed that there were predictable patterns of longevity and death in a defined group, or cohort , of people, despite the uncertainty about the future longevity or mortality of any one individual. This study became the basis for the original life table . Combining this idea with that of compound interest and annuity valuation, it became possible to set up an insurance scheme to provide life insurance or pensions for
384-435: A code of ethics that covers their communications and work products. As an outgrowth of their more traditional roles, actuaries also work in the fields of risk management and enterprise risk management for both financial and non-financial corporations. Actuaries in traditional roles study and use the tools and data previously in the domain of finance. The Basel II accord for financial institutions (2004), and its analogue,
480-453: A defined contribution plan depends upon the account balance at the time an employee is looking to use the assets. So, for this arrangement, the contribution is known but the benefit is unknown (until calculated). Despite the fact that the participant in a defined contribution plan typically has control over investment decisions, the plan sponsor retains a significant degree of fiduciary responsibility over investment of plan assets, including
576-496: A defined-benefit social security system, but is more controversial when applied to high levels of professional income. Why should younger generations pay for executive pensions which they themselves are unsure of collecting? Employers have sought ways of getting round this problem through pre-funding, but in civil-law countries have often been limited by the legal vehicles available. A suitable legal vehicle should ideally have three qualities. First, it should convince employees that
672-521: A financial liability will be worth at different points in the future. Since neither of these kinds of analysis are purely deterministic processes, stochastic models are often used to determine frequency and severity distributions and the parameters of these distributions. Forecasting interest yields and currency movements also plays a role in determining future costs, especially on the life side. Actuaries do not always attempt to predict aggregate future events. Often, their work may relate to determining
768-539: A focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms. The name of the corresponding academic discipline is actuarial science . While the concept of insurance dates to antiquity, the concepts needed to scientifically measure and mitigate risks have their origins in the 17th century studies of probability and annuities. Actuaries of the 21st century require analytical skills, business knowledge, and an understanding of human behavior and information systems to design programs that manage risk, by determining if
864-452: A fund towards meeting the benefits. All plans must be funded in some way, even if they are pay-as-you-go, so this type of plan is more accurately known as pre-funded or fully-funded . The future returns on the investments, and the future benefits to be paid, are not known in advance, so there is no guarantee that a given level of contributions will be enough to meet the benefits. Typically, the contributions to be paid are regularly reviewed in
960-422: A group of people, and to calculate with some degree of accuracy each member's necessary contributions to a common fund, assuming a fixed rate of interest. The first person to correctly calculate these values was Edmond Halley . In his work, Halley demonstrated a method of using his life table to calculate the premium someone of a given age should pay to purchase a life-annuity. James Dodson 's pioneering work on
1056-648: A guideline for setting the pass mark for any examination. If the CAS determines that 70% of all candidates have demonstrated sufficient grasp of the syllabus material, then those 70% should pass. Similarly, if the CAS determines that only 30% of all candidates have demonstrated sufficient grasp of the syllabus material, then only those 30% should pass." Actuaries have appeared in works of fiction including literature, theater, television, and film. At times, they have been portrayed as "math-obsessed, socially disconnected individuals with shockingly bad comb-overs", which has resulted in
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#17327755902431152-412: A mixed response amongst actuaries themselves. Pension A pension ( / ˈ p ɛ n ʃ ən / ; from Latin pensiō 'payment') is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be: Pensions should not be confused with severance pay ;
1248-438: A new breed of collective risk sharing schemes where plan members pool their contributions and to a greater or less extent share the investment and longevity risk . There are multiple naming conventions for these plans reflecting the fact that the future payouts are a target or ambition of the plan sponsor rather than a guarantee, common naming conventions include: Defined contribution pensions, by definition, are funded, as
1344-407: A portion of the employee's contributions to be matched by the employer. In exchange, the funds in such plans may not be withdrawn by the investor prior to reaching a certain age—typically the year the employee reaches 59.5 years old (with a small number of exceptions)—without incurring a substantial penalty. Advocates of defined contribution plans point out that each employee has the ability to tailor
1440-455: A similar stream of payments. The common use of the term pension is to describe the payments a person receives upon retirement, usually under predetermined legal or contractual terms. A recipient of a retirement pension is known as a pensioner or retiree . A retirement plan is an arrangement to provide people with an income during retirement when they are no longer earning a steady income from employment. Often retirement plans require both
1536-472: A specific amount of income throughout their retirement years. However this income is not usually guaranteed to keep up with inflation, so its purchasing power may decline over the years. On the other hand, defined contribution plans are dependent upon the amount of money contributed and the performance of the investment vehicles used. Employees are responsible for ensuring that their contributions are sufficient to provide for their retirement needs, and they face
1632-574: A tax break depending on the country and plan type. For example, Canadians have the option to open a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), as well as a range of employee and state pension programs. This plan allows contributions to this account to be marked as un-taxable income and remain un-taxed until withdrawal. Most countries' governments will provide advice on pension schemes. Social and state pensions depend largely upon legislation for their sustainability. Some have identified funds, but these hold essentially government bonds—a form of " IOU " by
1728-819: A tiered system. For a simplified example, suppose there are three employees that pay into a state pension system: Sam, Veronica, and Jessica. The state pension system has three tiers: Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. These three tiers are based on the employee's hire date (i.e. Tier I covers 1 January 1980 (and before) to 1 January 1995, Tier II 2 January 1995 to 1 January 2010, and Tier III 1 January 2010 to present) and have different benefit provisions (e.g. Tier I employees can retire at age 50 with 80% benefits or wait until 55 with full benefits, Tier II employees can retire at age 55 with 80% benefits or wait until 60 for full benefits, Tier III employees can retire at age 65 with full benefits). Therefore, Sam, hired in June 1983, would be subject to
1824-486: A university setting. In others, such as the US, most study takes place during employment through a series of examinations. In the UK, and countries based on its process, there is a hybrid university-exam structure. As these qualifying exams are extremely rigorous, support is usually available to people progressing through the exams. Often, employers provide paid on-the-job study time and paid attendance at seminars designed for
1920-409: A valuation of the plan's assets and liabilities, carried out by an actuary to ensure that the pension fund will meet future payment obligations. This means that in a defined benefit pension, investment risk and investment rewards are typically assumed by the sponsor/employer and not by the individual. If a plan is not well-funded, the plan sponsor may not have the financial resources to continue funding
2016-620: Is a "contribution based" benefit, and depends on an individual's contribution history. For examples, see National Insurance in the UK, or Social Security in the United States of America. Many countries have also put in place a " social pension ". These are regular, tax-funded non-contributory cash transfers paid to older people. Over 80 countries have social pensions. Some are universal benefits, given to all older people regardless of income, assets or employment record. Examples of universal pensions include New Zealand Superannuation and
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#17327755902432112-401: Is a plan in which workers accrue pension rights during their time at a firm and upon retirement the firm pays them a benefit that is a function of that worker's tenure at the firm and of their earnings. In other words, a DB plan is a plan in which the benefit on retirement is determined by a set formula, rather than depending on investment returns. Government pensions such as Social Security in
2208-415: Is a type of employment-based Pension in the UK. The 401(k) is the iconic self-funded retirement plan that many Americans rely on for much of their retirement income; these sometimes include money from an employer, but are usually mostly or entirely funded by the individual using an elaborate scheme where money from the employee's paycheck is withheld, at their direction, to be contributed by their employer to
2304-516: Is legally no different from the portability of defined benefit plans. However, because of the cost of administration and ease of determining the plan sponsor's liability for defined contribution plans (you do not need to pay an actuary to calculate the lump sum equivalent that you do for defined benefit plans) in practice, defined contribution plans have become generally portable. In a defined contribution plan, investment risk and investment rewards are assumed by each individual/employee/retiree and not by
2400-405: Is record of a 14th-century contract to insure a shipment of wheat. In 1350, Lenardo Cattaneo assumed "all risks from act of God, or of man, and from perils of the sea" that may occur to a shipment of wheat from Sicily to Tunis up to a maximum of 300 florins . For this he was paid a premium of 18%. During the 17th century, a more scientific basis for risk management was being developed. In 1662,
2496-454: Is the convergence of modern finance theory with actuarial science. In the early 20th century, some economists and actuaries were developing techniques that can be found in modern financial theory, but for various historical reasons, these developments did not achieve much recognition. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a distinct effort for actuaries to combine financial theory and stochastic methods into their established models. In
2592-484: The Medal of Honor qualify for a separate stipend. Retirement pay for military members in the reserve and US National Guard is based on a point system. Many countries have created funds for their citizens and residents to provide income when they retire (or in some cases become disabled). Typically this requires payments throughout the citizen's working life in order to qualify for benefits later on. A basic state pension
2688-457: The Roman empire , associations were formed to meet the expenses of burial, cremation, and monuments—precursors to burial insurance and friendly societies . A small sum was paid into a communal fund on a weekly basis, and upon the death of a member, the fund would cover the expenses of rites and burial. These societies sometimes sold shares in the building of columbāria , or burial vaults, owned by
2784-1008: The Solvency II accord for insurance companies (in force since 2016), require institutions to account for operational risk separately, and in addition to, credit , reserve , asset , and insolvency risk. Actuarial skills are well suited to this environment because of their training in analyzing various forms of risk, and judging the potential for upside gain, as well as downside loss associated with these forms of risk. Actuaries are also involved in investment advice and asset management , and can be general business managers and chief financial officers . They analyze business prospects with their financial skills in valuing or discounting risky future cash flows, and apply their pricing expertise from insurance to other lines of business. For example, insurance securitization requires both actuarial and finance skills. Actuaries also act as expert witnesses by applying their analysis in court trials to estimate
2880-508: The level premium system led to the formation of the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorship (now commonly known as Equitable Life ) in London in 1762. This was the first life insurance company to use premium rates that were calculated scientifically for long-term life policies, using Dodson's work. After Dodson's death in 1757, Edward Rowe Mores took over the leadership of
2976-445: The "Bradley Commission") in 1955–56. Pensions may extend past the death of the veteran himself, continuing to be paid to the widow. In the U.S., retired military receive a military retirement pay , not called a "pension" as they can be recalled to active duty at any time. Military retirement pay is calculated on number of years on active duty, final pay grade and the retirement system in place when they entered service. Members awarded
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3072-428: The "guarantee" made to employees is that specified (defined) contributions will be made during an individual's working life. There are many ways to finance a pension and save for retirement. Pension plans can be set up by an employer, matching a monetary contribution each month, by the state or personally through a pension scheme with a financial institution, such as a bank or brokerage firm. Pension plans often come with
3168-413: The 1930s and 1940s, rigorous mathematical foundations for stochastic processes were developed. Actuaries began to forecast losses using models of random events instead of deterministic methods . Computers further revolutionized the actuarial profession. From pencil-and-paper to punchcards to microcomputers, the modeling and forecasting ability of the actuary has grown vastly. Another modern development
3264-503: The 21st century, the profession, both in practice and in the educational syllabi of many actuarial organizations, combines tables, loss models, stochastic methods, and financial theory, but is still not completely aligned with modern financial economics . As there are relatively few actuaries in the world compared to other professions, actuaries are in high demand, and are highly paid for the services they render. The actuarial profession has been consistently ranked for decades as one of
3360-636: The Basic Retirement Pension of Mauritius . Most social pensions, though, are means-tested, such as Supplemental Security Income in the United States of America or the "older person's grant" in South Africa . Some pension plans will provide for members in the event they suffer a disability . This may take the form of early entry into a retirement plan for a disabled member below the normal retirement age. The benefits of defined benefit and defined contribution plans differ based on
3456-465: The Netherlands ($ 1.8T), Japan ($ 1.7T), Switzerland ($ 1.1T), Denmark ($ 0.8T), Sweden, Brazil and S. Korea (each $ 0.5T), Germany, France, Israel, P.R. China, Mexico, Italy, Chile, Belgium, Spain and Finland (each roughly $ 0.2T), etc. Without the vast body of common law to draw upon, statutory trusts tend to be more uniform and tightly regulated. However, pension assets alone are not a useful guide to
3552-694: The Social Security Reserve Fund and France set up the Pensions Reserve Fund ; in Canada the wage-based retirement plan (CPP) is partially funded, with assets managed by the CPP Investment Board while the U.S. Social Security system is partially funded by investment in special U.S. Treasury Bonds. In a funded plan, contributions from the employer, and sometimes also from plan members, are invested in
3648-407: The U.S. since the 1990s. Cash balance plans, for example, provide a guaranteed benefit like a defined benefit plan, but the benefit is expressed as an account balance, like a defined contribution plan. Pension equity plans are a type of cash balance plan that credits employee accounts with a percentage of their pay each year, similar to a defined contribution plan. A Defined Benefit (DB) pension plan
3744-432: The US, defined contribution plans are subject to IRS limits on how much can be contributed, known as the section 415 limit. In 2009, the total deferral amount, including employee contribution plus employer contribution, was limited to $ 49,000 or 100% of compensation, whichever is less. The employee-only limit in 2009 was $ 16,500 with a $ 5,500 catch-up. These numbers usually increase each year and are indexed to compensate for
3840-425: The United States are a type of defined benefit pension plan. Traditionally, defined benefit plans for employers have been administered by institutions which exist specifically for that purpose, by large businesses, or, for government workers, by the government itself. A traditional form of defined benefit plan is the final salary plan, under which the pension paid is equal to the number of years worked, multiplied by
3936-505: The United States include individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) plans . In such plans, the employee is responsible, to one degree or another, for selecting the types of investments toward which the funds in the retirement plan are allocated. This may range from choosing one of a small number of pre-determined mutual funds to selecting individual stocks or other financial assets. Most self-directed retirement plans are characterized by certain tax advantages , and some provide for
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4032-474: The United States of America and Canada now face chronic pension crises. A defined contribution (DC) plan, is a pension plan where employers set aside a certain proportion (i.e. contributions) of a worker's earnings (such as 5%) in an investment account, and the worker receives this savings and any accumulated investment earnings upon retirement. These contributions are paid into an individual account for each member. The contributions are invested, for example in
4128-468: The United States, the profession was rated as the best profession by CareerCast, which uses five key criteria to rank jobs—environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands, and stress, in 2010, 2013, and 2015. In other years, it remained in the top 20. Becoming a fully credentialed actuary requires passing a rigorous series of professional examinations, usually taking several years. In some countries, such as Denmark, most study takes place in
4224-542: The actuarial profession has been reluctant to specify the pass marks for its examinations. To address concerns that there are pre-existing pass/fail quotas, a former chairman of the Board of Examiners of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries stated: "Although students find it hard to believe, the Board of Examiners does not have fail quotas to achieve. Accordingly, pass rates are free to vary (and do). They are determined by
4320-564: The assets are truly secured for their benefit. Second, contributions to the vehicle should be tax-deductible to the employer (or at least, a tax deduction should be secured already). And third, to the extent that it has funded the pension liability, the employer should be able to reduce the liability shown on its balance sheet. In the absence of appropriate statute, attempts have been made to invent suitable vehicles with varying degrees of success. The most notable has been in Germany where, until
4416-508: The attainment of normal retirement age (usually age 65). Companies would rather hire younger employees at lower wages. Some of those provisions come in the form of additional temporary or supplemental benefits , which are payable to a certain age, usually before attaining normal retirement age. Due to changes in pensions over the years, many pension systems, including those in Alabama , California , Indiana , and New York , have shifted to
4512-507: The average retirement age and lifespan of the employees, the returns to be earned by the pension plan's investments and any additional taxes or levies, such as those required by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in the U.S. So, for this arrangement, the benefit is relatively secure but the contribution is uncertain even when estimated by a professional. This has serious cost considerations and risks for
4608-516: The benefit of an employee is commonly referred to as an occupational or employer pension. Labor unions , the government, or other organizations may also fund pensions. Occupational pensions are a form of deferred compensation , usually advantageous to employee and employer for tax reasons. Many pensions also contain an additional insurance aspect, since they often will pay benefits to survivors or disabled beneficiaries. Other vehicles (certain lottery payouts, for example, or an annuity ) may provide
4704-483: The best interests of the beneficiaries. These jurisdictions account for over 80% of assets held by private pension plans around the world. Of the $ 50.7 trillion of global assets in 2019, $ 32.2T were in U.S. plans, the next largest being the U.K. ($ 3.2T), Canada ($ 2.8T), Australia ($ 1.9T), Singapore ($ 0.3T), Hong Kong and Ireland (each roughly $ 0.2T), New Zealand, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica, etc. Civil-law jurisdictions with statutory trust vehicles for pensions include
4800-411: The casualty side, this analysis often involves quantifying the probability of a loss event, called the frequency, and the size of that loss event, called the severity. The amount of time that occurs before the loss event is important, as the insurer will not have to pay anything until after the event has occurred. On the life side, the analysis often involves quantifying how much a potential sum of money or
4896-414: The cost of financial liabilities that have already occurred, called retrospective reinsurance , or the development or re-pricing of new products. Actuaries also design and maintain products and systems. They are involved in financial reporting of companies' assets and liabilities. They must communicate complex concepts to clients who may not share their language or depth of knowledge. Actuaries work under
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#17327755902434992-441: The degree of financial security provided to the retiree. With defined benefit plans, retirees receive a guaranteed payout at retirement, determined by a fixed formula based on factors such as salary and years of service. The risk and responsibility of ensuring sufficient funding through retirement is borne by the employer or plan managers. This type of plan provides a level of financial security for retirees, ensuring they will receive
5088-448: The economic value of losses such as lost profits or lost wages. The basic requirements of communal interests gave rise to risk sharing since the dawn of civilization. For example, people who lived their entire lives in a camp had the risk of fire, which would leave their band or family without shelter. After barter came into existence, more complex risks emerged and new forms of risk manifested. Merchants embarking on trade journeys bore
5184-674: The effects of inflation. For 2015, the limits were raised to $ 53,000 and $ 18,000, respectively. Examples of defined contribution pension schemes in other countries are, the UK's personal pensions and proposed National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), Germany's Riester plans, Australia's Superannuation system and New Zealand's KiwiSaver scheme. Individual pension savings plans also exist in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain Many developed economies are moving beyond DB & DC Plans and are adopting
5280-517: The employee's plan. This money can be tax-deferred or not, depending on the exact nature of the plan. Some countries also grant pensions to military veterans. Military pensions are overseen by the government; an example of a standing agency is the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . Ad hoc committees may also be formed to investigate specific tasks, such as the U.S. Commission on Veterans' Pensions (commonly known as
5376-440: The employer and employee to contribute money to a fund during their employment in order to receive defined benefits upon retirement. It is a tax deferred savings vehicle that allows for the tax-free accumulation of a fund for later use as retirement income. Funding can be provided in other ways, such as from labor unions, government agencies, or self-funded schemes. Pension plans are therefore a form of "deferred compensation". A SSAS
5472-494: The employer is the reason given by many employers for switching from defined benefit to defined contribution plans over recent years. The risks to the employer can sometimes be mitigated by discretionary elements in the benefit structure, for instance in the rate of increase granted on accrued pensions, both before and after retirement. The age bias, reduced portability and open ended risk make defined benefit plans better suited to large employers with less mobile workforces, such as
5568-559: The employer offering a pension plan. One of the growing concerns with defined benefit plans is that the level of future obligations will outpace the value of assets held by the plan ( Unfunded mandate ). This "underfunding" dilemma can be faced by any type of defined benefit plan, private or public, but it is most acute in governmental and other public plans where political pressures and less rigorous accounting standards can result in excessive commitments to employees and retirees, but inadequate contributions. Many states and municipalities across
5664-404: The employer tends to pay higher contributions than under defined contribution plans), so such criticism is rarely harsh. The "cost" of a defined benefit plan is not easily calculated, and requires an actuary or actuarial software. However, even with the best of tools, the cost of a defined benefit plan will always be an estimate based on economic and financial assumptions. These assumptions include
5760-438: The end of the 20th century, most occupational pensions were unfunded ("book-reserved") promises by employers. Changes started in 1983. Most national pension systems are based on multi-pillar schemes to ensure greater flexibility and financial security to the old in contrast to reliance on one single system. In general, there are three main functions of pension systems: saving, redistribution and insurance functions. According to
5856-440: The event of the borrower's death or infirmity. Alternatively, people sometimes lived too long from a financial perspective, exhausting their savings, if any, or becoming a burden on others in the extended family or society. In the ancient world there was not always room for the sick, suffering, disabled, aged, or the poor—these were often not part of the cultural consciousness of societies. Early methods of protection, aside from
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#17327755902435952-518: The exams. Also, many companies that employ actuaries have automatic pay raises or promotions when exams are passed. As a result, actuarial students have strong incentives for devoting adequate study time during off-work hours. A common rule of thumb for exam students is that, for the Society of Actuaries examinations, roughly 400 hours of study time are necessary for each four-hour exam. Thus, thousands of hours of study time should be anticipated over several years, assuming no failures. Historically,
6048-404: The financing of GAD through an annual Parliamentary vote of funds was replaced by a system of directly charging users of GAD's services. The calculation of GAD's fees is based solely on the recovery of its costs. GAD has about 200 people across 2 offices (London and Edinburgh), of whom around 165 are actuaries and analysts. The government actuary is the individual actuary that is responsible for
6144-422: The former is usually paid in regular amounts for life after retirement, while the latter is typically paid as a fixed amount after involuntary termination of employment before retirement. The terms " retirement plan " and " superannuation " tend to refer to a pension granted upon retirement of the individual; the terminology varies between countries. Retirement plans may be set up by employers, insurance companies,
6240-414: The formulation of corporate risk policy, and the setting up and running of corporate risk departments. Actuaries are also involved in other areas in the economic and financial field, such as analyzing securities offerings or market research . On both the life and casualty sides, the classical function of actuaries is to calculate premiums and reserves for insurance policies covering various risks. On
6336-549: The fund. Other early examples of mutual surety and assurance pacts can be traced back to various forms of fellowship within the Saxon clans of England and their Germanic forebears, and to Celtic society. Non-life insurance started as a hedge against loss of cargo during sea travel. Anecdotal reports of such guarantees occur in the writings of Demosthenes , who lived in the 4th century BCE. The earliest records of an official non-life insurance policy come from Sicily , where there
6432-574: The government, or other institutions such as employer associations or trade unions. Called retirement plans in the United States , they are commonly known as pension schemes in the United Kingdom and Ireland and superannuation plans (or super ) in Australia and New Zealand . Retirement pensions are typically in the form of a guaranteed life annuity , thus insuring against the risk of longevity . A pension created by an employer for
6528-584: The group that eventually became the Society for Equitable Assurances. It was he who specified that the chief official should be called an actuary . Previously, the use of the term had been restricted to an official who recorded the decisions, or acts , of ecclesiastical courts , in ancient times originally the secretary of the Roman senate , responsible for compiling the Acta Senatus . Other companies that did not originally use such mathematical and scientific methods most often failed or were forced to adopt
6624-602: The implementation of strategies proposed for mitigating potential risks, does not exceed the expected cost of those risks actualized. The steps needed to become an actuary , including education and licensing, are specific to a given country, with various additional requirements applied by regional administrative units; however, almost all processes impart universal principles of risk assessment, statistical analysis, and risk mitigation, involving rigorously structured training and examination schedules, taking many years to complete. The profession has consistently been ranked as one of
6720-710: The insurance and reinsurance industries, either as staff employees or as consultants; to other businesses, including sponsors of pension plans; and to government agencies such as the Government Actuary's Department in the United Kingdom or the Social Security Administration in the United States of America. Actuaries assemble and analyze data to estimate the probability and likely cost of the occurrence of an event such as death, sickness, injury, disability, or loss of property. Actuaries also address financial questions, including those involving
6816-400: The investment portfolio to his or her individual needs and financial situation, including the choice of how much to contribute, if anything at all. However, others state that these apparent advantages could also hinder some workers who might not possess the financial savvy to choose the correct investment vehicles or have the discipline to voluntarily contribute money to retirement accounts. In
6912-1732: The level of pension contributions required to produce a certain retirement income and the way in which a company should invest resources to maximize its return on investments in light of potential risk. Using their broad knowledge, actuaries help design and price insurance policies, pension plans, and other financial strategies in a manner that will help ensure that the plans are maintained on a sound financial basis. Most traditional actuarial disciplines fall into two main categories: life and non-life. Life actuaries, which includes health and pension actuaries, primarily deal with mortality risk, morbidity risk, and investment risk. Products prominent in their work include life insurance , annuities , pensions, short and long term disability insurance , health insurance, health savings accounts , and long-term care insurance. In addition to these risks, social insurance programs are influenced by public opinion, politics, budget constraints, changing demographics , and other factors such as medical technology , inflation , and cost of living considerations. Non-life actuaries, also known as "property and casualty" (mainly US) or "general insurance" (mainly UK) actuaries, deal with both physical and legal risks that affect people or their property. Products prominent in their work include auto insurance , homeowners insurance , commercial property insurance, workers' compensation , malpractice insurance, product liability insurance , marine insurance , terrorism insurance , and other types of liability insurance . Actuaries are also called upon for their expertise in enterprise risk management . This can involve dynamic financial analysis , stress testing ,
7008-450: The member's salary at retirement, multiplied by a factor known as the accrual rate . The final accrued amount is available as a monthly pension or a lump sum, but usually monthly. In the US, 26 U.S.C. § 414(j) specifies a defined benefit plan to be any pension plan that is not a defined contribution plan (see below) where a defined contribution plan is any plan with individual accounts. A traditional pension plan that defines
7104-420: The methods pioneered by Equitable. In the 18th and 19th centuries, computational complexity was limited to manual calculations. The calculations required to compute fair insurance premiums can be burdensome. The actuaries of that time developed methods to construct easily used tables, using arithmetical short-cuts called commutation functions , to facilitate timely, accurate, manual calculations of premiums. In
7200-529: The mid-19th century, professional bodies were founded to support and further both actuaries and actuarial science, and to protect the public interest by ensuring competency and ethical standards. Since calculations were cumbersome, actuarial shortcuts were commonplace. Non-life actuaries followed in the footsteps of their life compatriots in the early 20th century. In the United States, the 1920 revision to workers' compensation rates took over two months of around-the-clock work by day and night teams of actuaries. In
7296-420: The most desirable. In various studies in the United States, being an actuary was ranked first or second multiple times since 2010, and in the top 20 for most of the past decade. Actuaries use skills primarily in mathematics, particularly calculus -based probability and mathematical statistics , but also economics , computer science , finance, and business. For this reason, actuaries are essential to
7392-402: The most desirable. Actuaries work comparatively reasonable hours, in comfortable conditions, without the need for physical exertion that may lead to injury, are well paid, and the profession consistently has a good hiring outlook. Not only has the overall profession ranked highly, but it also is considered one of the best professions for women, and one of the best recession-proof professions. In
7488-529: The normal support of the extended family, involved charity; religious organizations or neighbors would collect for the destitute and needy. By the middle of the 3rd century, charitable operations in Rome supported 1,500 suffering people. Charitable protection remains an active form of support in the modern era, but receiving charity is uncertain and often accompanied by social stigma . Elementary mutual aid agreements and pensions did arise in antiquity. Early in
7584-439: The overall running and leadership of GAD. The holders of this role have been: Actuary An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset management , liability management, and valuation skills. Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with
7680-431: The pension for older employees than for younger ones (an "age bias"). Defined benefit pensions tend to be less portable than defined contribution plans, even if the plan allows a lump sum cash benefit at termination. Most plans, however, pay their benefits as an annuity, so retirees do not bear the risk of low investment returns on contributions or of outliving their retirement income. The open-ended nature of these risks to
7776-545: The pension plan allows for early retirement, payments are often reduced to recognize that the retirees will receive the payouts for longer periods of time. In the United States, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 , any reduction factor less than or equal to the actuarial early retirement reduction factor is acceptable. Many DB plans include early retirement provisions to encourage employees to retire early, before
7872-410: The plan. Traditional defined benefit plan designs (because of their typically flat accrual rate and the decreasing time for interest discounting as people get closer to retirement age) tend to exhibit a J-shaped accrual pattern of benefits, where the present value of benefits grows quite slowly early in an employee's career and accelerates significantly in mid-career: in other words it costs more to fund
7968-445: The private sector in many countries. For example, the number of defined benefit plans in the U.S. has been steadily declining, as more and more employers see pension contributions as a large expense avoidable by disbanding the defined benefit plan and instead offering a defined contribution plan. Money contributed can either be from employee salary deferral or from employer contributions. The portability of defined contribution pensions
8064-598: The provisions of the Tier I scheme, whereas Veronica, hired in August 1995, would be permitted to retire at age 60 with full benefits and Jessica, hired in December 2014, would not be able to retire with full benefits until she became 65. In an unfunded defined benefit pension, no assets are set aside and the benefits are paid for by the employer or other pension sponsor as and when they are paid. Pension arrangements provided by
8160-569: The public sector (which has open-ended support from taxpayers). This coupled with a lack of foresight on the employers part means a large proportion of the workforce are kept in the dark over future investment schemes. Defined benefit plans are sometimes criticized as being paternalistic as they enable employers or plan trustees to make decisions about the type of benefits and family structures and lifestyles of their employees. However they are typically more valuable than defined contribution plans in most circumstances and for most employees (mainly because
8256-399: The purchasing power of the pension; the higher the inflation rate, the lower the purchasing power of a fixed annual pension. This effect can be mitigated by providing annual increases to the pension at the rate of inflation (usually capped, for instance at 5% in any given year). This method is advantageous for the employee since it stabilizes the purchasing power of pensions to some extent. If
8352-548: The quality of the candidates sitting the examination and in particular how well prepared they are. Fitness to pass is the criterion, not whether you can achieve a mark in the top 40% of candidates sitting." In 2000, the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) decided to start releasing pass marks for the exams it offers. The CAS's policy is also not to grade to specific pass ratios; the CAS board affirmed in 2001 that "the CAS shall use no predetermined pass ratio as
8448-422: The risk of losing goods entrusted to them, their own possessions, or even their lives. Intermediaries developed to warehouse and trade goods, which exposed them to financial risk . The primary providers in extended families or households ran the risk of premature death, disability or infirmity, which could leave their dependents to starve. Credit procurement was difficult if the creditor worried about repayment in
8544-404: The risk of market fluctuations that could reduce their retirement savings. However, defined contribution plans provide more flexibility for employees, who can choose how much to contribute and how to invest their funds. Hybrid plans, such as cash balance and pension equity plans, combine features of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. These plans have become increasingly popular in
8640-495: The role of the Chief Actuary expanded, the post of Government Actuary was created in 1917. The Government Actuary's Department was formed 2 years later. The role of GAD within government expanded significantly in the 1940s and 1950s, coinciding with an expansion of the state's role in pensions, social security and health care. By the 1980s GAD had grown into a significant actuarial consultancy within government and in 1989
8736-439: The selection of investment options and administrative providers. In the United States, the legal definition of a defined contribution plan is a plan providing for an individual account for each participant, and for benefits based solely on the amount contributed to the account, plus or minus income, gains, expenses and losses allocated to the account (see 26 U.S.C. § 414(i) ). Examples of defined contribution plans in
8832-409: The sponsor/employer, and these risks may be substantial. In addition, participants do not necessarily purchase annuities with their savings upon retirement, and bear the risk of outliving their assets. (In the United Kingdom, for instance, it is a legal requirement to use the bulk of the fund to purchase an annuity.) The "cost" of a defined contribution plan is readily calculated, but the benefit from
8928-443: The state in most countries in the world are unfunded, with benefits paid directly from current workers' contributions and taxes. This method of financing is known as pay-as-you-go , or PAYGO . The social security systems of many European countries are unfunded, having benefits paid directly out of current taxes and social security contributions, although several countries have hybrid systems which are partially funded. Spain set up
9024-402: The state which may rank no higher than the state's promise to pay future pensions. Occupational pensions are typically provided through employment agreements between workers and employers, and their financing structure must meet legislative requirements. In common-law jurisdictions, the law requires that pensions be pre-funded in trusts, with a range of requirements to ensure the trustees act in
9120-415: The stock market, and the returns on the investment (which may be positive or negative) are credited to the individual's account. On retirement, the member's account is used to provide retirement benefits, sometimes through the purchase of an annuity which then provides a regular income. Defined contribution plans have become widespread all over the world in recent years, and are now the dominant form of plan in
9216-558: The total distribution of occupational pensions around the world. It will be noted that four of the largest economies (Germany, France, Italy and Spain) have very little in the way of pension assets. Nevertheless, in terms of typical net income replacement in retirement, these countries rank well relative to those with pension assets. These and other countries represent a fundamentally different approach to pension provision, often referred to as "intergenerational solidarity". Intergenerational solidarity operates to an extent in any country with
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