QUESTION: I'd like to calculate the date when a participant attains 45 points, that is, the date when age plus service equals 45. What do I do?

ANSWER: In Database | Edit Data | Define Field by Expression, define four fields, containing:

1. the current valuation date (called, for example, VALDATE)

2. age on the valuation date (called, for example, AGE)

3. service as of the valuation date (called, for example, SERVICE)

4. the date the points are attained (called, for example, POINTSDATE)

The expressions for AGE and SERVICE should reflect the plan provision for computing points (based upon, for example, exact age, rounded age, exact service since hire, years of plan participation). The expression to define POINTSDATE would be:

VALDATE #dateminus {1y * [(AGE + SERVICE – 45)/2]}.

Put the four expressions together in an Expression Set in the order shown above.