On June 26, 2018, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) released a study of the mortality assumptions used for funding purposes by state-based and large-city public pension plans.  The study includes comparisons of how the mortality tables being used now compare to the latest mortality tables developed by the SOA (based on corporate pension plan data).

Two items that we noted from the study report are the following:

• Confirmation that the exposure draft of the SOA’s public plan specific mortality study will be released in late summer or early fall of 2018.  This report is really just a teaser of the bigger study that is to come.
• There are clear differences in public plan mortality experience across job categories: general, public safety, and teachers.  Given this, we would expect separate tables or adjustments to tables to reflect the differences in mortality rates for each of these groups.

Other conclusions from the study could be relevant to your plan based on the mortality table you currently utilize.  This link takes you to the full study report: https://www.soa.org/research-reports/2018/public-pension-mortality/.  Feel free to contact your Foster & Foster consultant with any questions you may have.