[.ca] Fundamentals of Private Pensions (ISBN 0199269505)

Very complete yet sometimes boring: serious stuff !:
Very coplete study, covering almost all imaginable subjects, from actuarial maths to investment management to organisation and HR aspects of pension provision. This is not a manual, though. Get a simpler and less in detail book to get a general view of the topic, and then use "Fundamentals..." as reference.

A good reference:
A good reference book for anyone connected with a pension or profit sharing arrangement. It is not a guide to IRAs, Keogh plans, SEPs, rather it focuses on traditional defined contribution and defined benefit plans. While this book seems written for more for budding actuaries, those wishing to study design alternatives or asset management will find this book provides a good background. I find two flaws with the book. First is the lack of examples. While the book discusses full funding limitations, it does not show you an example calculation. While it tells you how to calculate the minimum liability, it does not show you an example of how to present it in the financial statements. This book is not a text book, but it would be very helpful to see some real examples in practice rather than only discussions about the rationale behind the method. Second, the single chapter on pension accounting is weak. Issues not mentioned include accounting for minimum liability, disclosures under FAS 132, understanding the relationship between funding and expense, curtailments and other plan amendments, the interrelationships between the conflicting limitations of ERISA/IRC/GAAP, the effect of pension assumptions on the financial statements and the impact of FAS 87 for an over funded plan on the financial statements of the sponsor. The perspective focuses more on the reasons the accounting standards exist, not the strategy or day-to-day issues of how the pension affects the financial statements of the sponsor. If accounting is what you need, buy a current intermediate accounting book.