Using ERISA can help determine a company specific worklife expectancy

ERISA Form 5500 can be a useful way to determine the average retirement age for a company.

On Schedule B, Actuarial Information, line 6b presents the average retirement age. Depending on the company the retirement age can be substantially different from the overall average retirement age.

For instance, consider a case where the attorney is attempting to value the pension benefits of in a wrongful death case involving the death of a mael tanker captain. If the attorney (or the economist) were to use the average of retirement to value the lost pension benefits, the damages would begin at the age of approximately 62 and end at about the age of 81. However, the PENSION PLAN FOR OFFICERS OF U.S. FLAG OCEAN-GOING TANKERS for Mobil Oil clearly shows that the average retirement age at the company is 55.

In a case involving this company, a valuation of the lost pension benefits for a fully vested individual would be significantly UNDERSTATED since the damages should began at 55 and run for a longer period.

The ERISA data can also be used to create an industry specific retirement benchmark. A good source for FREE ERISA data is:

www.freeERISA.com.