Work Underway to Answer Important Question About Pension Plans

Actuarial valuations are underway that will provide a snapshot of the plans of the central conferences’ long-term financial health. These valuations use complex analyses that seek to answer a simple, but important, question: Given the amount of money coming into the plan, is it on track to pay the long-term benefits that have been promised?

Michelle Robinson of Wespath’s CCP team has been busy gathering participant data and plan information from each central conference. She is working with our partners at Willis Towers Watson (WTW) to produce the actuarial valuations. Three key considerations for this work include:

• How much does the fund have in assets?
• How long are participants expected to live?
• How much money will participants receive in retirement?

Answers to these questions, and others, help determine the “funded rations” for the plans of the central conferences. For example, will the plans have enough funding to cover 100% of the benefits promised, or only 60%? Or somewhere in between?

Wespath conducts these valuations every two years—conducting valuations on a regular basis is vital to understanding where individual plans lie on their paths to becoming self-sustaining. This year’s analyses are expected to be complete in the fall. The results will be delivered electronically to central conference benefits officers and other leaders, along with an invitation to discuss the findings with Wespath.