Continuing Inactives
Measuring the gain or loss attributable to continuing inactives by source is optional. However, it may be beneficial for plans that have data changes among continuing inactives (including updates to OPEB claims, if they are defined as a database field).
Selecting all continuing inactive Sources to analyze will produce one source for gains or losses caused by database field values. You can change the grouping or the order of allocation of each of the sources by clicking the Sources button and changing the Source Number in the next dialog box. Note that a different order for identical groups will produce a different allocation among the groups of gains and losses by source. Each separate group requires an additional pass. For the fastest run, group them all together. On the other hand, for the greatest detail, assign each item to its own group.
The database field sources measure the gain or loss due to unanticipated changes in database field values. You may use this source to analyze unexpected changes in database fields, such as:
Age fields
Payment amount or payment form
OPEB (retiree medical) claims, if they are defined as a database field
In many cases, this can bring the unreconciled gain / loss for continuing inactives down to zero, saving a lot of time analyzing results.
You may use this feature, in lieu of the Data Corrections topic, to analyze continuing inactive sources but the results will not be identical. Data corrections measure the difference between using the original and corrected beginning of period data, whereas the Continuing Inactives database field sources measure the difference between using expected and actual end of period data.
Any database field referenced in one or more beginning of period runs and one or more end of period runs is available as a source, except for character fields. Select the field(s) you wish to analyze, click the Data Parameters button and then click the field name(s), to specify how each field is expected to change from beginning to end of period. The Expected value at end of period may be determined based on (unavailable options will be inaccessible):
Equal to beginning of period. This is a suitable choice for fields that aren't expected to change from one year to the next (e.g., birth dates, payment amount, or payment form) or are expected to change by a fixed amount (e.g., “age + 1”). This option is available for date fields, coded fields and most numeric fields. For numeric fields, you can also specify "plus" or "times" to adjust the value of the beginning of period database field in order to get the expected end of period database field value. This adjustment may be specified as a constant or a field from the beginning-of-period database.
Projected value of inactive benefit definition (available in pension modes only). This is a suitable choice for fields that are used in inactive benefit definitions. Select from the list of Inactive Benefit Definitions (that are referenced by Valuation(s) included in this Gain / Loss Analysis). Chose what the benefit definition should be Divided by in order to determine the expected value of the database field (for example, 12, if the database field is monthly).
Projected value of component (available for numeric fields in OPEB mode only). This is a suitable choice for fields that specify the OPEB (retiree medical) claims on the valuation date. Select from the list of Benefit Formula Components (that are referenced by Valuation(s) included in this Gain / Loss Analysis).
Projected value of spending account (available for numeric fields in OPEB mode only). This is a suitable choice for fields that specify the OPEB (retiree medical) spending account balance on the valuation date. Note that this option is only available for spending accounts which have annual increase rates applied to the outstanding balance, do not have renewed balances at Medicare age, and do not cover any reversionary annuities. Select from the list of Limits and Spending Accounts (that are referenced by Valuation(s) included in this Gain / Loss Analysis and meet the aforementioned criteria).
Note: Certain database fields are dependent on other fields. For example, a joint and survivor payment form which references a database field for the percentages paid. When calculating the difference between expected and actual results of the database field, ProVal will require that the dependent fields be populated. In other words, if the actual end of period form is life annuity, but the expected form is the joint and survivor, ProVal will require that the percentages paid field be populated. If that information is missing, there are two options to handle this: