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Upcoming Public Pension Plan Mortality Study
When public pensions have accurate data on the average life expectancy of their participants, they have a clearer picture of the plan's fiscal health and funded levels. This in turn allows for more informed decision-making that will ultimately contribute to the long-term sustainability of public pensions across the country.
By: Hank Kim, Executive Director & Counsel, NCPERSMortality rates may not make for light dinnertime conversation, but in the public pension community it is not a topic we can shy away from. In order to accurately project the fiscal health of their plans, it is critical that public pensions and actuaries understand the differences in average life expectancy for plan participants when accounting for variables like geographic region, occupation, and salary.
That is why NCPERS is thrilled to sponsor the Public Pension Plan Mortality Study with the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute. The study will analyze in-depth data from more than 30 U.S. public pension systems spanning from 2022 to 2026, with the findings scheduled to be released in 2030.
We are currently seeking actuaries and NCPERS members to serve on the advisory board or as volunteers on the Retirement Plans Experience Committee (RPEC) which manages the project. If you'd like to volunteer or learn more about the opportunity, please email research@ncpers.org.
Only two public pension-specific mortality studies have been conducted by SOA before, and the series was scheduled to sunset after the most recent release. We believe this data is essential to the public pension community, so NCPERS decided to partner with SOA to ensure continued access to the latest public sector-specific mortality tables.
When public pensions have accurate data on the average life expectancy of their participants, they have a clearer picture of the plan's fiscal health and funded levels. This in turn allows for more informed decision-making that will ultimately contribute to the long-term sustainability of public pensions across the country.
The latest release from the SOA Research Institute provides a comprehensive review of recent mortality experience of public retirement plans in the United States. We encourage you to submit feedback on the Pub-2016 Public Retirement Plans Mortality Tables exposure draft to research@soa.org by March 31st.
We look forward to partnering with SOA on the upcoming study and hope it will be a valuable tool for the public pension community. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.
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