Greetings, ASEA!

Happy mid-December, all. Hope your Holiday Season is full of mirth! 

I signed up for the 2024 virtual ASEA Actuarial Insights conference in January. Typically, I prefer in-person conferences and sit in one of the front rows to stop myself from checking work emails. But the agenda included topics I want to be more comfortable with (controlled group changes, mergers, MASD, etc.) so I will have to buckle down and not check emails over two afternoons. Self-control is good! If you are interested, check out the link: https://www.asppa-net.org/asea-actuarial-insights-2024

We have some terrific articles this month—and we start with the technical:

Jeffry Lamb, EA, MAAA, Owner and consultant of Independent Actuaries, Inc. gets the ball rolling with an article on mistake of fact contributions. Often caused by the client, it still falls on us to advise on the corrections. I hope this article helps you understand the process better, and you can find the article here: https://www.asppa.org/asea/mistake-fact-contributions 

Next up is one of the longer articles in recent memory, which comes to us from David Forbes, a principal and consulting actuary with the Little Falls, NJ office of Milliman. This is a comprehensive article on vested benefits, and there is a lot to learn. You can find the article here: https://www.asppa.org/asea/pension-plans-and-vested-benefits 

After those mind-benders, we settle in with the less technical, more personal articles. Tiffany Myers, FSA, EA, MSEA, Manager, Actuarial Services at the Cash Balance Center of Excellence wrote a lovely piece on overcoming obstacles. I’m a big fan of exposing our weaknesses so that we may overcome them to become even stronger and Tiffany takes that to a higher level. Thank you, Tiffany, (and congrats again on becoming an FSA). You can find her article here: https://www.asppa.org/asea/embracing-awkward 

Finally, we have a bittersweet article from Elizabeth Duda, ASEA and NTSA Manager. Thank you for all your help, Elizabeth – not just on the ASEA Monthly but years back on the Leadership Council as well. You are one of those people that everyone has something good to say about. You can find Elizabeth’s article here: https://www.asppa.org/asea/decade-growth-gratitude-and-goodbyes-reflecting-10-years-professional-journey 

And before we go into the new year, I am sharing this music related story:

Michael Goldwasser is the co-founder and a musician in the Easy Star All-Stars, a reggae band that generally records and performs reggae covers of Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Radiohead, etc. I saw him play once and met him twice as a fellow fan at a couple of other concerts. I just bought the CD of their one original set of music, and how exciting that they have a song called…(drum roll, please)…’Reggae Pension.’ To combine two of my loves in one title was quite exciting.

So spread those good vibes and the word of Ja (per the song), and you too can grow the seeds of your own Reggae Pension!

Have a healthy and prosperous 2024!

Alan