Actuary and Governmental Post-employment Benefits

Long been a hot profession in turns of market demand (and/or salary), actuary are statisticians who compute insurance risks and premiums. These people are getting even busier with the new GASB statement 45 that requires state and local governments to start saving immediately for future costs of post-employment benefits, other than pensions -- such as retiree's health insurance cost.

Traditionally, state and local governments adopt a pay-as-you-go approach, which calculate (and report) only these benefits to be paid in the following fiscal year. Following the phase-in scheme of GASB 45, public employers should pay (or reserve funds) on an accrual basis, with an eye toward the amount they will owe in benefits through the projected lifespan of each retiree.

"It's a huge actuarial equation," as quoted in the following news story. Many school districts have been searching for actuaries to do the complex estimations. Once the overall costs are determined, school districts will have to save enough funds each year to meet that future cost.

New rule to affect schools' retiree costs.