Academy member Tonya Manning explained to comedian D.L. Hughley what an actuary does during CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks The News." Hughley sought to poke a little fun at actuaries, but Manning turned out to be a joke teller herself.
Andrew Biggs, the former deputy commission of the Social Security Administration, discussed a recent Academy statement on Medicare and Social Security. Biggs said that "overall the Academy's support is very helpful in giving momentum to reform."
The Academy's Pension Committee Chairperson Jim Verlautz was quoted in a cover story on top executive's retirement plans. Some companies have used lower interest rate assumptions to compensate executives, who will face a higher tax bill, with larger lump sums. Verlautz joined critics who say the tax claim is overstated and that executives will have large tax bills regardless. He said executive who take a lump sum will face a bigger tax expense but that it does not justify cutting the interest rate assumptions from six percent to three percent.
The Academy's Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco said that "relatively few people lose benefits in a plan termination" because the benefits are protected by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
