Buck Consultants, Inc. has released its most recent survey on defined benefit plan actuarial assumptions as to funding interest rates, salary increase rates and actuarial cost methods. Covering the 1997 plan year, the survey dealt with a cross-section of industries. The average funding interest rate for plans surveyed was 8.20% as compared to 8.19% for 1996. The highest concentration of plan sponsors (31%) used a funding interest rate of 8.50% for 1997. The average salary increase rate was 5.30% as compared to 5.37% for 1996. Most plans surveyed for 1997 (73%) used the accrued benefit (unit credit) actuarial cost method for determining contributions. The frozen initial liability method was a distant second at 15%.
Buck Surveys Economic Assumptions
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