Actuaries

At last: an advocacy group with a sense of humor. The Society of Actuaries, concerned about what the public might think about their profession based on the portrayal of one such actuary in the new film "About Schmidt," issued a press release Thursday. But rather than denouncing the filmmakers for their insensitivity and decrying the harmful effects on impressionable children, the nonprofit organization took a lighter tack.

WASHINGTON -- The bipartisan Senate immigration proposal would provide a boost to the Social Security fund, its chief actuary said Wednesday, as more immigrants come out of the underground economy and begin paying taxes. The assessment of the bill's impact on Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance is another entry in a growing body of economic data amassing on both sides of the immigration reform debate. “Overall, we anticipate that the net effect of this bill on the long-range OASDI actuarial balance will be positive,”  Stephen C. Goss, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, wrote in a letter to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

For the first time in three years, California's second-largest public pension fund reported positive annual earnings. The $130-billion California State Teachers' Retirement System posted a 12.3% return Monday for the fiscal year that ended June 30, a step toward recovering from steep losses during the recession. The CalSTRS portfolio lost 25% of its value in its previous fiscal year and dropped 3% for the 2008 fiscal year. "We've taken steps to position the portfolio for long-term growth, but we're not out of the woods yet," said Christopher J. Ailman, CalSTRS' chief investment officer.

People looking for a career may want to avoid some of the worst jobs around -- lumberjack, oil-rig operator and meter reader. Those are among the least promising professions, according to a new analysis. And you almost certainly should steer clear of the worst job on the list - newspaper reporter. Forget swashbuckling or intrepid. Endangered is more like it. Being an ink-stained wretch beat out 190 other careers for the distinction of being named the absolute worst. Being a reporter, according to the analysis, is even less promising than being an actor, which was named the fourth-worst profession.

Anticipation of a better deal on auto insurance has been running high since the California Supreme Court last week upheld most of Proposition 103--the ballot initiative that called for a 20% reduction in insurance premiums. But the thing to keep in mind about the court's decision is that it was a blow for stronger regulation--and now the real work begins. The court said that voters have a right to reduce insurance rates, as long as they don't violate the insurers' right to make a "fair and reasonable" profit.

Everybody loves lists. Most of those you see in the papers or online tend toward the inconsequential (The Six Best "Fast & Furious" Movies). So here's a list with a bit more gravitas: The five biggest lies you're being told about entitlement programs. Never mind that the very word "entitlement" is a lie. Social Security and Medicare got that name because workers became "entitled" to those benefits by paying into the system. In recent years, however, the term has become distorted to signify benefits people are entitled to without earning them.

California's insurance commissioner said an 11% rate increase for small businesses by Anthem Blue Cross is "unreasonable" because the company overstated its costs and improperly added fees related to the federal healthcare law. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones also said Anthem, a unit of industry giant WellPoint Inc., was reaping excessive profits in California. But under state law the commissioner has no authority to block the rate increase from taking effect this month. "This is a huge loophole in California law and in the federal Affordable Care Act," Jones said.

Your May 19 story, "Book Rates Actuary as No. 1 Job" caught my attention. I have been an actuary for more than 15 years. Some misconceptions in the article and "The Jobs Rated Almanac" should be corrected. First, the given definition of actuary describes one minor part of the job--would a firefighter like to be described as one who waxes his fire engine every week? A broader definition would be "someone who uses mathematical models to put a financial value on future events that are uncertain as to time, amount and certainty."

The City Council voted Tuesday to spend $12,500 on an actuarial study as part of its efforts to establish a muncipal insurance company. Costs for the study--which will determine the amount of money necessary to finance such a program--will be shared with Doctors Management Co., a physicians' insurance group. The physicians group, which set up its own self-insurance fund during the malpractice insurance crisis, has been advising Gardena and may be a partner in the city's venture.

Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. in Anaheim, the nation's oldest and largest pet medical insurance provider, has hired the country's first pet actuary. Phil Panther, an actuarial assistant at National Casualty Co., Veterinary's underwriter, will sift through reams of data and past claims to help Veterinary refine its rates, he said. At present, insurance premiums for dogs and cats are based only on their ages.

BOSTON - Lu Lingzi learned Sunday that she had passed a major exam for her studies at Boston University. The next morning, the test and a major project behind her, the 23-year-old Chinese graduate student and two friends headed over to watch the Boston Marathon. They chose spots near the finish line. Hours later, two bombs exploded there. It was midafternoon in Boston, the middle of the night in China. As hours ticked by and Lu still hadn't called, her parents and grandparents grew panicked.

The nation's largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, posted a 1.1% return on its investment portfolio in 2011, Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dear told his board. The 2011 performance was well below the estimated average annual return of 7.75% that the fund's actuaries say is needed to meet current and future obligations to its members. The $229.5-billion CalPERS provides retirement and other benefits for 1.6 million state and local government employees and their families.

For the first time in three years, California's second-largest public pension fund reported positive annual earnings. The $130-billion California State Teachers' Retirement System posted a 12.3% return Monday for the fiscal year that ended June 30, a step toward recovering from steep losses during the recession. The CalSTRS portfolio lost 25% of its value in its previous fiscal year and dropped 3% for the 2008 fiscal year. "We've taken steps to position the portfolio for long-term growth, but we're not out of the woods yet," said Christopher J. Ailman, CalSTRS' chief investment officer.

David Axene was flat on his back in a hospital bed with a swollen left leg. His kidneys had shut down. His blood pressure had plunged. Doctors pumped him with potent antibiotics to stave off a deadly infection. Yet there he was sifting through spreadsheets on his laptop, cradling his cellphone to his ear, waving off doctors to finish another conference call. California's top insurance watchdogs had hired Axene to scour Anthem Blue Cross' files for any flaw in the voluminous paperwork that accompanied its rate hikes of up to 39%. Anthem's plan to impose higher premiums March 1 had outraged consumers and politicians alike.

Thousands of worried Californians who buy individual insurance policies from Anthem Blue Cross will soon learn whether they face rate increases of up to 39% that were put on hold for two months amid a public outcry that helped revive national healthcare legislation. California's largest for-profit health insurer agreed to postpone the increases for many of its 800,000 individual policyholders until May 1 while an outside actuary, appointed by state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, evaluated its spending practices.

Another pension alarm bell is ringing in Sacramento, this time at the teachers retirement system, where the nation's second-largest public pension fund is reporting a $43-billion shortfall. The California State Teachers' Retirement System said that as of June 30, 2009, it could meet only an estimated 77% of its future pension obligations -- far less than the 100% recommended by actuaries. Known as CalSTRS, the fund took a big hit during the 2008-09 fiscal year, losing a quarter of its value.

People looking for a career may want to avoid some of the worst jobs around -- lumberjack, oil-rig operator and meter reader. Those are among the least promising professions, according to a new analysis. And you almost certainly should steer clear of the worst job on the list - newspaper reporter. Forget swashbuckling or intrepid. Endangered is more like it. Being an ink-stained wretch beat out 190 other careers for the distinction of being named the absolute worst. Being a reporter, according to the analysis, is even less promising than being an actor, which was named the fourth-worst profession.

WASHINGTON -- The bipartisan Senate immigration proposal would provide a boost to the Social Security fund, its chief actuary said Wednesday, as more immigrants come out of the underground economy and begin paying taxes. The assessment of the bill's impact on Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance is another entry in a growing body of economic data amassing on both sides of the immigration reform debate. “Overall, we anticipate that the net effect of this bill on the long-range OASDI actuarial balance will be positive,”  Stephen C. Goss, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, wrote in a letter to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

At last: an advocacy group with a sense of humor. The Society of Actuaries, concerned about what the public might think about their profession based on the portrayal of one such actuary in the new film "About Schmidt," issued a press release Thursday. But rather than denouncing the filmmakers for their insensitivity and decrying the harmful effects on impressionable children, the nonprofit organization took a lighter tack.