现金余额型职业养老金计划及其对我国的启示

现金余额型养老金计划是美国职业养老金近年衍生出的创新模式之一,作为混合型计划的一种,其兼具确定给付型和确定缴费型养老金制度的特点。本文运用比较法分析了现金余额型养老金计划的运行机理,进而在分析我国目前职业养老金面,临的困境的基础上,指出现金余额型养老金计划对我国职业养老金建设的借鉴意义,具体包括：DC计划不是职业养老金...     

企业年金确定给付型计划与确定缴费型计划研究

文章对我国企业年金的基本理论和缴费进行分析,比较确定给付型企业年金养老计划与确定缴费型企业年金养老计划的各方面的差异。从养老金的给付情况来看,确定给付计划不但可以保证雇员退休后得到稳定,持久的退休金收入,还可以为其提供健康给付、伤残给付等辅助养老金,充分实现了社会保障的目的。从建立成本的情况来看,确定给付型计划更具有科学性和合理性。     

养老金给付请求权与养老金债权探析

基本养老保险制度是我国社会保障体系的重要组成部分,其核心是养老金给付.养老金给付请求权是参保人员的核心权利,对于实现基本养老保险制度的根本目的、保障参保人员的基本生活乃至促进社会经济活动的有序运转具有重要意义.目前,无论是立法规范还是理论研究,对养老金给付请求权的关注和探讨均不足.本文尝试对养老金给付请求权进行界定,并...     

养老金会计处理的探讨

人口老龄化趋势已成为全球性的问题 ,世界各国一直在不断努力寻求解决的途径 ,至今已形成了各具特色的养老保险制度。在会计处理上 ,西方国家已形成一套比较完善的体系 ,而我国在这方面尚处于探索阶段。本文分析了养老金的性质及养老金会计核算的原则 ;借鉴西方 (主要是美国和IASC)养老金会计领域的研究成果 ,分别就两种养老金给付方式下的会计处理进行论述 ;结合我国养老金制度发展的实际情况 ,对养老金计划及会计问题进行初步探讨。     

美国的养老基金

养老基金是大多数美国职工退休后收入的主要来源。目前全美各种养老金计划已达83.4万项,包括近5400万职工。绝大多数美养老金计划按有关养老金管理法进行严格管理,成千上万的养老金计划的成员(或受益人)是受美三个联邦政府机构即美养老金收益担保署、美劳工部养老金与社会福利管理局和美国财政部收入总署的保护。 美国养老金计划大体分两种,即固定收益计划和固定捐助计划。养老金计划是由“计划主管”负责执行的,按照美国养老金管理法,计划主管需向养老金计划成员自动提供有关该项养老金计划的制定、何时计算收益、投资状况、遗孤收益标准、收益权归属期     

中国企业补充养老保险计划类型的选择

确定缴费制和确定给付制的比较研究 确定缴费制的主要优点,是在缴费、投资和转移方面的灵活性,且机理简单,透明度高,易被接受,同时能够建立积累完全的养老保险基金,缺点是待遇不稳定和易受通货膨胀的影响.确定给付制的主要优点是能够提供一定的给付,并对建立养老保险计划时有一定工龄的雇员的历史贡献予以养老金承诺,缺点是缴费需要随着计划基金状态的变动而调整,稳定性较差.如果希望提供稳定的、随着通货膨胀而调整的收入,并且希望职工能长期稳定地工作,同时对死亡、伤残提供一定水平的给付,应该选择确定给付养老金计划.如果希望由雇员承担未来基金的风险,提供灵活的、便于流动的账户,应该选择确定缴费制.     

美国养老金新法对资本市场的影响

401（k）养老金计划是美国目前参加员工最多的企业养老金计划。美国广大的企业职工通过积极参加401（k）计划，踊跃为自己将来退休收入进行储蓄，并将自己401（k）计划账户的资产积极投入到美国的证券市场中，使401（k）计划成为美国当今证券市场中最为活跃和重要的投资股东。美国2006年养老金新法，促进了养老金对股票、基金的投资，将对美国资本市场产生更加深刻的影响。     

养老金统筹层次提升的收入再分配效应研究——以辽宁省级统筹为例

养老保险一直以来被认为是具有重要的收入再分配功能.养老金公平分配既是收入再分配的出发点,也是再分配调节能力的基础.只有深入透彻的分析基础养老金自市级统筹提升到省级统筹层次带来的收入分配变动,才能更好检验基础养老金统筹层次提升所带来的地区间收入差距的变化,更重要的是可以为实现全国统筹铺平道路.本文立足于分析中国城镇企业职工基本养老保险制度,依据养老金计发办法,分析统筹层次提升对养老金给付影响及基础养老金的收入再分配效应,得到如下结论:省级统筹的实施对养老金给付水平的调整不存在影响;省级统筹的实施对新增退休人员基础养老金和过渡性养老金给付存在影响;养老保险统筹层次的提升缩小地区间的新增退休人员初次分配差异;对于新增退休人员来说,实际基础养老金地区差异要小于名义上的基础养老金地区差异.但当前的省级统筹层次提升分配方案损害了高收入地区高物价水平地区新增退休人员基础养老金福利,未能真正体现出保证劳动者在职贡献与养老金福利给付的相对公平.因此,养老保险统筹层次提升方案中,应充分考虑地区间物价水平差异,确保高收入地区养老金合理的流向低收入地区,保证基础养老金分配的公平与养老金制度的可持续发展,促进全国统筹的尽快实现.     

恒康天安人寿保险有限公司推出新的养老保险产品

据悉,恒康天安人寿保险有限公司日前在上海市场上推出一款新的分红型的养老保险产品——福寿多两全保险(分红型)。该产品同时具有死亡保障、养老金给付和满期给付。 随着社会人口的日益老龄化,以及生活压力的加重,人们对养老保障的需求日益增加,恒康天安的福寿多能满足这一需求。当被保险人开始退休,公司每年支付10％的基本保险金额作为养老金,且养老金金额每年递增     

精算模型在确定给付养老金计划风险管理中的应用

养老基金的风险管理越来越多地受到各国的关注.捐纳金风险和偿付能力风险是确定给付(DB)养老金计划的主要风险,通过分析和评价确定型模型、随机模型和动态随机控制模型等三类精算模型在评估和控制DB计划风险中的作用,说明养老金计划的决策者能够利用精算模型逐年确定恰当的捐纳金并进行有效的风险管理.     

An Examination of ERR and Asset Allocation in Public Pension Plans

In this paper, we examine the usefulness of expected rates of return (ERR) for public pension plans. Specifically, we test the correlation between the expected rate of return on plan assets and asset allocation. We also examine the predictive power of ERR on the actual returns of the pension assets. We find that the correlation between expected return and the percentage of assets that are equity securities is relatively weak. Further, we find that the percentage of assets that are equity securities is a much better predictor of actual returns than the disclosed expected return in public pension plans. These results provide evidence to support SFAS No. 87 , which requires the disclosure of plan assets and against recently promulgated SFAS No. 132 , which eliminates this disclosure requirement. The evidence also supports GASB 25'sStatement of Net Plan Assets .     

Do Managers of U.S. Defined Benefit Pension Plan Sponsors Use Regulatory Freedom Strategically?

We use historical particularities of pension funding law to investigate whether managers of U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plan sponsors strategically use regulatory freedom to lower the reported value of pension liabilities, and hence required cash contributions. For some years, pension plans were required to estimate two liabilities—one with mandated discount rates and mortality assumptions, and another where these could be chosen freely. Using a sample of 11,963 plans, we find that the regulated liability exceeds the unregulated measure by 10% and the difference further increases for underfunded pension plans. Underfunded plans tend to assume substantially higher discount rates and lower life expectancy. The effect persists both in the cross‐section of plans and over time and it serves to reduce cash contributions. We further show that plan sponsor managers use the freed‐up cash for corporate investment and that credit risk is unlikely to explain the finding.     

Cash balance plans: helping employers meet today's staffing needs

The author examines how cash balance plans better meet employers' staffing needs than traditional pension plans. He asserts that out-of-date pension laws, rather than employers, are responsible for creating the very "abuses" that so many are complaining about with regard to cash balance plan conversions.     

Adopting hybrid pension plans: financial and communication issues

This article provides a systematic framework for the evaluation of the movement toward hybrid pension plans by examining the reasons given by firms for converting their existing pension plans to hybrid plans, illustrating the impact of plan changes on expected pension benefits, and identifying winners and losers.     

Die Abgrenzung beitragsbezogener Pensionspläne aus Sicht des Asset-Liability-Managements

As a first step towards establishing models for the asset liability management (ALM) of contribution based pension plans of German pension funds it is important to characterize the essential properties of such plans. It is shown that it is not appropriate to assume an equivalence between such plans and a ?Beitragszusage mit Mindestleistung” (contribution based pension plan with investment guarantee). Although the plans under consideration grant the participation in the asset returns generated by the pension fund, they also guarantee a benefit level. This shows clearly that it is impossible to apply traditional ALM models for defined contribution plans — which in general provide no minimum benefit guarantee — to German pension funds without substantial alterations.     

Risk Allocation in Retirement Plans: A Better Solution

The corporate world is reconsidering the cost‐effectiveness of defined benefit pension plans while contemplating a change to defined contribution plans. This article begins by examining the three primary risks faced by sponsors of most DB pension plans—investment risk, interest rate risk, and longevity risk—and shows how shifting these risks to employees through a DC plan would affect both the corporation and the individual. Although DC plans clearly help companies manage risks, they provide at best an incomplete solution for individual participants. This article describes an innovation in pension design—the Retirement Shares Plan (RSP)—that combines many of the best features of DB and DC plans. An RSP provides:

• ? predictable and stable cost to the plan sponsor, with little chance of unfunded liabilities;
• ? lifetime income, guaranteeing that retirees will never outlive their benefits;
• ? a benefit accrual pattern comparable to that of traditional pension plans that preserves value for older, long‐service employees; and
• ? potential inflation protection for retirees.

The RSP accomplishes this by allocating risk to sponsors and individuals differently than either a traditional DB plan or a DC plan. Unlike most DB plans, the RSP shifts investment and interest rate risks from plan sponsors to participants. Unlike DC plans, the RSP keeps longevity risk with the sponsor.     

How does the Funding Status of Defined Benefit Pension Plans Affect Investment Decisions of Firms in the United States?

We investigate whether the flexibility in making contributions towards defined benefit pension plans sponsored by firms in the United States allows managers to save cash and increase investments. Firms invest more at higher levels of pension deficit, defined as pension benefit obligations less pension assets, and scaled by total assets. At the median level (90^th percentile) of pension deficit, investments increase by 6.7 cents (9.4 cents) for every dollar increase in cash. As the pension deficit increases, firms deviate more from the predicted level of investment. These findings suggest that the incremental investments are more likely to represent overinvestment by managers. Our results are robust to alternative model specifications and endogeneity concerns that may arise if investments are jointly determined with the funding policy of pension plans and the firm's target cash level. We repeat our main analysis for the United Kingdom and also find for that country that, at a fixed cash level, total investment increases as pension deficit increases.     

美国企业年金计划的运作及其对我国的启示

美国的社会保障制度改革是成功的 ,成功的主要原因是企业年金计划的有力支持。发展企业年金计划应该是我国社会保障制度改革的方向 ,但是 ,从目前的情况来看 ,我国企业不具备充分发展企业年金计划的条件 ,应该由商业保险承担起发展补充保险的重任。     

Impact of Replacing a Defined Benefit Pension with a Defined Contribution Plan or a Cash Balance Plan

Abstract

Four pension plan conversions are examined to determine the impact on retirement benefits of workers. The study was based on interviews with top management, employee surveys, and actuarial analysis of retirement benefits under the old and new pension plans. In general, workers who leave the firm prior to the age of early retirement can expect increased benefits under the new defined contribution and cash balance plans, whereas older, more senior workers can expect to accrue smaller benefits after the plan conversions. Recognizing these potential adverse effects, the employers in our studies provided various types of transition benefits to existing workers or gave employees the choice of remaining in the old defined benefit plan. Employee surveys reveal that younger workers are more supportive of the new pension plans than are older workers. These case studies also indicate that communication by managements with their employees is very important to the successful implementation of plan conversions.     

The Shift to Defined Contribution Pension Plans

Abstract

There has been a strong shift away from defined benefit (DB) pension plans toward defined contribution (DC) pension plans in the United States over the last 20 years. A variety of reasons for this shift have been proposed. In another paper in this issue, Krzysztof Ostaszewski presents a new hypothesis to explain the shift to DC plans in the United States. He argues that the decline in importance of DB plans is due to a shift in the way relative returns to macroeconomic factors of production, that is, capital and labor, are being rewarded in the national economy.

This paper attempts to test the Ostaszewski hypothesis using Canadian data. In Canada there has been only a slight decrease in DB plan coverage. It is shown that the Ostaszewski theory does not fit the Canadian experience well. Instead, it is argued that pension regulation and tax legislation play a crucial role in pension design and reform. It is also argued that the difference in pension regulation and taxation in Canada versus the United States has directly influenced plan sponsors in considering their pension objectives, costs, and risks. Differences in the proportion of the workforce that is unionized may also be important. The paper concludes that pension regulation and taxation are more important variables than are macroeconomic reward systems in the use of DB versus DC pension plans.