The Regulatory Data Increase Rates topic allows you to specify increase rate assumptions for historical and custom regulatory data. You may set increase assumptions for items found in the following regulatory data categories:

• U.S. Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 415(b) maximum benefit and IRC section 401(a)(17) maximum compensation (unrounded),
• U.S. social security national average wage (NAW) and consumer price index (CPI),
• Canadian ITA maximum pension and yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE),
• U.K. Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), and
• Custom Regulatory Tables, if any have been defined.  Any custom regulatory tables will be listed under the name by which they are know in the Custom Regulatory Tables library.

You must define increase rates for all regulatory items referenced directly or indirectly in the Plan Definition, even if the increase rates are zero (ProAdmin will not read a blank as zero).  The increase rates entered under this topic apply for determining values in future calendar years, i.e., years after the last year defined in the text file containing the historical regulatory data.  

Select the desired items and click the Edit button to define or modify the projection increase rates.  For each item there are three choices for the Increase Rate:

1. A Constant rate of increase will be applied for all calendar years starting with the year after the last historical year in the table.  Enter a constant rate of annual increase within the range -20% to 20%. The rate is entered as a decimal.

2. Variable (from library) accesses increase rate tables that have been entered under the Reference Tables command of the Input menu.  Select from the list of all Increase Rate Tables that have been saved and unhidden in the current Project or click the  button to create a new table.  (Alternatively, you may specify the varying annual rates directly in this dialog box by means of the next, or "Variable", option for this parameter.  However, if you will apply these inrease rates in another set of Projection Assumptions, then you are advised to store them in a table in the Increase Rates Library to avoid having to input the rates again manually.) 

3. The Variable option allows you to enter, directly in this dialog box (instead of by reference to a table), rates of annual increase that vary by calendar year.  Complete a row for each rate. For example, if an increase rate of 5% is assumed for calendar years through 2015 and then 6% thereafter, then enter:

From	To	Rate
--	2015	0.05
2016	--	0.06

ProAdmin fills in the To column automatically, and the last rate will be used for the last year entered and all years thereafter. Note that the From box in the first row cannot be completed.  Our example involved only two rates:   if you have several rates in your assumptions, you may need to press the ENTER key, to create a new row, when you get to the bottom of the spreadsheet.

A rate of increase must be entered for a regulatory item, not its value for a particular calendar year.