"An Unreal Number" examines pension accounting and, in particular, its effects on the results and financial position of the sponsor of a defined benefit pension plan. Current pension accounting standards are better than their predecessors because they seek to provide information about the value...

We establish 16 good practice principles for modelling defined contribution pension plans. These principles cover the following issues: model specification and calibration; modelling quantifiable uncertainty; modelling member choices; modelling member characteristics, such as occupation and...