FEDERAL PENSIONS: Judicial Survivors Annuities System Costs
Abstract
This report was prepared in response to the requirements of the Federal Courts Administration Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-572) specifying that we review certain aspects of the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System (JSAS), which is one of several survivor benefit plans applicable to particular groups of federal employees. JSAS provides annuities to surviving spouses and dependent children of deceased Supreme Court Justices, judges of the United States, and other judicial officials' who participate in JSAS. The 1992 act enhanced the benefits available from JSAS and reduced the amounts that participating judges and other judicial officials were required to contribute toward the plan's costs. The act requires us to review JSAS costs every 3 years and to determine whether the judges' contributions represent 50 percent of the plan's costs. If the contributions represent less than 50 percent of these costs, we are to determine what adjustments to the contribution rates would be needed to achieve the 50 percent figure. For the purpose of the review, we have examined the "normal cost" of the plan. The plan's actuary using the plan's funding method, in this case, the aggregate cost method, determines the plan's normal cost. Under the aggregate cost method, the normal cost is the level percentage of future salaries, which will be sufficient, along with investment earnings and the plan's assets, to pay the plan's benefits. This is our third report since the passage of the 1992 act.2
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA403137
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office