A Pension Fund Problem; with some remarks on the deduction of Salary-scales

Extract

MR. T. G. ACKLAND, in the course of the discussion upon Mr. Manly's paper “On the Valuation of Staff Pension Funds”, presented the following problem for solution by the members of the Institute—” In the case of a superannuation fund, established—“ in connection with a municipality or corporation, to which the “employees contribute at a fixed rate, what will be the probable “annual charge upon the rates of the City during the next ten “years, during the following ten years, and so on for fifty years, “supposing that the present staff of the Corporation is adequate “in number for the needs of the Corporation, and that new “entrants come in only in replacement of those who die, “withdraw, or retire” ? (J.I.A., xxxvi, p . 283).

It is sometimes the case that a commercial undertaking merely guarantees the stability of its staff pension fund, without making an adequate annual contribution from which to build up the reserve necessary to meet the actuarial liability, or, more usually, it is the practice of a corporation to meet the current claims under its pension scheme out of the current income from its employees' contributions and to use any excess of income in relief of the rates, and to charge any deficiency, when arising, upon the rates. In such cases the ordinary actuarial valuation is of little practical use, but the main question is that put by Mr. Ackland—“ What will be the charge upon the employer, or the rates, at a given date, or over a given period”?