View all text of Subjgrp 22 [§ 4044.51 - § 4044.54]

§ 4044.53 - Mortality assumptions.

(a) General rule. Subject to paragraph (b) of this section (regarding certain death benefits), the plan administrator shall use the mortality factors prescribed in paragraphs (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of this section to value benefits under § 4044.52.

(b) Certain death benefits. If an annuity for one person is in pay status on the valuation date, and if the payment of a death benefit after the valuation date to another person, who need not be identifiable on the valuation date, depends in whole or in part on the death of the pay status annuitant, then the plan administrator shall value the death benefit using—

(1) The mortality rates that are applicable to the annuity in pay status under this section to represent the mortality of the pay status annuitant; and

(2) The mortality rates under paragraph (c) of this section to represent the mortality of the death beneficiary.

(c) Healthy lives—(1) In general. If the individual is not disabled under paragraph (f) of this section, the plan administrator must value the benefit using generational mortality tables described in this paragraph (c).

(i) Construction of generational mortality tables. The generational mortality tables in this paragraph (c) are constructed from the base mortality tables described in paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section and the mortality improvement rates described in paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section.

(ii) Base mortality tables. The base mortality tables are set forth in paragraph (c)(5) of this section. The base year for those tables is 2012.

(iii) Mortality improvement rates. The mortality improvement rates are the Scale MP-2021 Rates described in the Mortality Improvement Scale MP-2021 Report.

(iv) Incorporation by reference. The Mortality Improvement Scale MP-2021 Report, October 2021 is incorporated by reference into this section with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. This incorporation by reference (IBR) material is available for inspection at PBGC and at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Contact PBGC at: Disclosure Division, Office of the General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024; 202-326-4040. For information on the availability of this material at NARA, visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html or email [email protected]. The material may be obtained from the Society of Actuaries at: Society of Actuaries, 475 N. Martingale Rd., Suite 600, Schaumburg, IL 60173; (847) 706-3500; https://www.soa.org/resources/experience-studies/2021/mortality-improvement-scale-mp-2021.

(2) Application of mortality improvement rates—(i) In general. Under the generational mortality tables described in this paragraph (c), the probability of an individual's death at a particular age in the future is determined as the individual's base mortality rate that applies at that age (that is, the applicable mortality rate from the tables set forth in paragraph (c)(5) of this section for that age, gender, and status as an annuitant or a non-annuitant) multiplied by the cumulative mortality improvement factor for the individual's gender and for that age for the period from 2012 through the calendar year in which the individual is projected to reach the particular age. Paragraph (c)(3) of this section provides an example that illustrates how the base mortality tables in paragraph (c)(5) of this section and the Scale MP-2021 mortality improvement rates are combined to determine projected mortality rates.

(ii) Cumulative mortality improvement factor. The cumulative mortality improvement factor for an age and gender for a period is the product of the annual mortality improvement factors for that age and gender for each year within that period.

(iii) Annual mortality improvement factor. The annual mortality improvement factor for an age and gender for a year is 1 minus the mortality improvement rate that applies for that age and gender for that year. If that annual mortality improvement rate is greater than 1 (corresponding to a negative mortality improvement rate), then the projected mortality rate for that age and gender for that year is greater than the projected mortality rate for the same age and gender for the preceding year.

(3) Example of calculation using scale MP-2021 rates—(i) Calculation of mortality rate. The mortality rate that is applied to male annuitants who are age 67 in 2024 is equal to the product of the mortality rate for 2012 that applied to male annuitants who were age 67 in 2012 (0.01288) and the cumulative mortality improvement factor for age 67 males from 2012 to 2024. The cumulative mortality improvement factor for age 67 males for the period from 2012 to 2024 is 0.9867, and the mortality rate for 2024 for male annuitants who are age 67 in that year would be 0.01271, as shown in the following table.

Table 1 to Paragraph (c)(3)(i)—Example Mortality Rate Calculation

Calendar year Scale MP-2021
mortality
improvement
rate
Annual mortality
improvement
factor
(1-mortality
improvement
rate)
Cumulative
mortality
improvement
factor
Mortality rate 2012n/an/an/a0.01288 20130.00520.99480.9948 20140.00270.99730.9921 20150.00090.99910.9912 2016(0.0003)1.00030.9915 2017(0.0010)1.00100.9925 2018(0.0016)1.00160.9941 2019(0.0016)1.00160.9957 2020(0.0010)1.00100.9967 20210.00001.00000.9967 20220.00150.99850.9952 20230.00330.99670.9919 20240.00520.99480.98670.01271

(ii) Probability of survival for an individual. After the projected mortality rates are derived for each age for each year, the rates are used to calculate the present value of a benefit stream that depends on the probability of survival year-by-year. For example, using the Scale MP-2021 rates, for purposes of calculating the present value of future payments in a benefit stream payable for a male annuitant who is age 67 in 2024, the probability of survival for the annuitant is based on the mortality rate for a male annuitant who is age 67 in 2024 (0.01271), and the projected mortality rate for a male annuitant who will be age 68 in 2025 (0.01369), age 69 in 2026 (0.01478), and so on.

(4) Use of the tables—(i) Separate tables for annuitants and non-annuitants. Separate mortality tables are provided for use for annuitants and non-annuitants. The non-annuitant mortality tables are applied to determine the probability of survival for a non-annuitant for the period before the non-annuitant is projected to commence receiving benefits. The annuitant mortality tables are applied to determine the present value of benefits for each annuitant. In addition, the annuitant mortality tables are applied for each non-annuitant with respect to each assumed commencement of benefits for the period beginning with that assumed commencement. For purposes of this section, an annuitant means a plan participant who has commenced receiving benefits, and a non-annuitant means a plan participant who has not yet commenced receiving benefits (for example, an active employee or a terminated vested participant). A participant whose benefit has partially commenced is treated as an annuitant for the portion of the benefit that has commenced and treated as a non-annuitant for the balance of the benefit. In addition, for a beneficiary of a participant, the annuitant mortality tables apply for the period beginning with each assumed commencement of benefits for the participant. If the participant has died (or to the extent the participant is assumed to die before commencing benefits), the annuitant mortality tables apply with respect to the beneficiary for the period beginning with each assumed commencement of benefits for the beneficiary.

(ii) Examples of calculation using separate non-annuitant and annuitant tables. For a 45-year-old active participant who is projected to commence receiving an annuity at age 55, benefit liabilities are determined using the non-annuitant mortality tables for the period before the participant attains age 55 and using the annuitant mortality tables for the period ages 55 and above. Similarly, for a 45-year-old terminated vested participant who is projected to commence an annuity at age 65, benefit liabilities are determined using the non-annuitant mortality tables for the period before the participant attains age 65 and using the annuitant mortality tables for ages 65 and above.

(5) Base mortality tables. The following are the base mortality tables. The base year for these tables is 2012.

Table 2 to Paragraph (c)(5)—Healthy Lives Base Mortality Table

Age Males Females Non-annuitant Annuitant Non-annuitant Annuitant 00.006500.006500.005440.00544 10.000450.000450.000380.00038 20.000300.000300.000230.00023 30.000220.000220.000180.00018 40.000190.000190.000130.00013 50.000160.000160.000120.00012 60.000140.000140.000110.00011 70.000130.000130.000100.00010 80.000110.000110.000090.00009 90.000090.000090.000090.00009 100.000080.000080.000090.00009 110.000090.000090.000090.00009 120.000130.000130.000100.00010 130.000170.000170.000120.00012 140.000220.000220.000130.00013 150.000280.000280.000130.00013 160.000340.000340.000140.00014 170.000400.000400.000150.00015 180.000460.000460.000150.00015 190.000530.000530.000150.00015 200.000560.000560.000150.00015 210.000560.000560.000150.00015 220.000560.000560.000160.00016 230.000550.000550.000180.00018 240.000550.000550.000190.00019 250.000540.000540.000190.00019 260.000540.000540.000190.00019 270.000540.000540.000200.00020 280.000540.000540.000200.00020 290.000540.000540.000200.00020 300.000550.000550.000210.00021 310.000550.000550.000220.00022 320.000560.000560.000230.00023 330.000580.000580.000250.00025 340.000590.000590.000260.00026 350.000610.000610.000280.00028 360.000630.000630.000310.00031 370.000650.000650.000340.00034 380.000680.000680.000360.00036 390.000710.000710.000400.00040 400.000740.000740.000430.00043 410.000770.000820.000470.00049 420.000810.000990.000510.00061 430.000860.001240.000550.00078 440.000910.001580.000600.00101 450.000970.002000.000650.00130 460.001050.002510.000710.00165 470.001130.003100.000770.00206 480.001230.003780.000830.00252 490.001340.004540.000900.00304 500.001470.005390.000980.00362 510.001610.005440.001070.00426 520.001770.005650.001160.00495 530.001940.005880.001260.00500 540.002130.006160.001370.00512 550.002340.006470.001480.00517 560.002570.006860.001610.00522 570.002810.007280.001750.00528 580.003080.007700.001900.00561 590.003380.008110.002060.00601 600.003690.008480.002240.00643 610.004030.008820.002430.00690 620.004410.009180.002640.00743 630.004810.009600.002870.00796 640.005250.010140.003120.00859 650.005730.010870.003390.00928 660.006360.011780.003800.01003 670.007060.012880.004270.01089 680.007840.014180.004800.01192 690.008700.015640.005400.01309 700.009670.017290.006060.01444 710.010730.019140.006810.01597 720.011920.021210.007650.01770 730.013230.023540.008600.01967 740.014690.026130.009660.02192 750.016320.029050.010850.02445 760.018120.032330.012190.02727 770.020120.036040.013700.03042 780.022340.040260.015390.03391 790.024800.045040.017290.03775 800.027540.050460.019430.04198 810.029890.056570.021340.04663 820.034600.063430.025160.05178 830.041660.071140.030890.05754 840.051080.079770.038530.06401 850.062850.089460.048080.07132 860.076980.100320.059550.07954 870.093460.112480.072930.08879 880.112290.126000.088220.09936 890.133480.140880.105420.11124 900.157030.157030.124530.12453 910.174010.174010.138180.13818 920.191510.191510.152500.15250 930.209360.209360.167370.16737 940.227420.227420.182740.18274 950.245690.245690.198630.19863 960.264150.264150.215090.21509 970.282810.282810.232140.23214 980.301690.301690.249830.24983 990.320770.320770.268140.26814 1000.339960.339960.286980.28698 1010.359100.359100.306190.30619 1020.377940.377940.325490.32549 1030.396330.396330.344720.34472 1040.414150.414150.363750.36375 1050.431310.431310.382430.38243 1060.447710.447710.400650.40065 1070.463290.463290.418280.41828 1080.478000.478000.435220.43522 1090.491810.491810.451390.45139 1100.500000.500000.466730.46673 1110.500000.500000.481200.48120 1120.500000.500000.494770.49477 1130.500000.500000.500000.50000 1140.500000.500000.500000.50000 1150.500000.500000.500000.50000 1160.500000.500000.500000.50000 1170.500000.500000.500000.50000 1180.500000.500000.500000.50000 1190.500000.500000.500000.50000 1201.000001.000001.000001.00000

(d) Social Security disabled lives. If the individual is Social Security disabled under paragraph (f)(1) of this section, the plan administrator will value the benefit using the following table.

Table 3 to Paragraph (d)—Social Security Disabled Lives Mortality Table

Age Male Female 160.0125440.004759 170.0071020.006541 180.0058590.008035 190.0099980.008369 200.0089260.009224 210.0085330.008144 220.0081580.008616 230.0089700.008127 240.0084330.008318 250.0086960.008851 260.0092110.008002 270.0093620.008694 280.0097800.009477 290.0100490.009664 300.0110930.009417 310.0110750.009985 320.0109310.010524 330.0118900.010648 340.0125290.011252 350.0124180.011450 360.0132340.011448 370.0138320.012135 380.0144570.012579 390.0158300.012619 400.0161530.013578 410.0168590.014243 420.0174640.014520 430.0183020.014773 440.0191270.015630 450.0203800.016131 460.0216070.016874 470.0234070.017547 480.0239560.018198 490.0256310.019281 500.0263840.019413 510.0272770.020343 520.0285820.020488 530.0301640.021316 540.0312620.021960 550.0317280.021969 560.0330670.022897 570.0342300.023556 580.0354740.024159 590.0367900.024958 600.0377720.025905 610.0392970.027414 620.0399540.028394 630.0410690.029795 640.0422800.030776 650.0391440.028230 660.0438620.031667 670.0461820.033318 680.0486240.034728 690.0520770.037341 700.0552840.039491 710.0589510.042134 720.0623010.044962 730.0670990.047548 740.0714690.051148 750.0750680.055271 760.0804250.059382 770.0855310.063489 780.0915850.068675 790.0983830.074929 800.1047880.080536 810.1131100.088455 820.1220620.094573 830.1316970.103589 840.1404300.111345 850.1518900.122160 860.1657770.130844 870.1768750.142631 880.1883970.156112 890.2066510.166591 900.2232520.182064 910.2350730.197059 920.2493180.205768 930.2677400.225325 940.2770330.240441 950.2840030.260724 960.2987400.281817 970.3130860.293156 980.3287400.308400 990.3451770.324436 1000.3624360.341307 1010.3805580.359055 1020.3995860.377726 1030.4195650.397368 1040.4405430.418031 1050.4625710.439768 1060.4856990.462636 1070.5099840.486693 1080.5354830.512001 1090.5622570.538626 1100.5903700.566634 111+1.0000001.000000

(e) Non-Social Security disabled lives. If the individual is non-Social Security disabled under paragraph (f)(2) of this section, the plan administrator will value the benefit using generational mortality tables described in paragraph (c) of this section.

(f) Definitions of disability—(1) Social Security disabled. A participant is Social Security disabled if, on the valuation date, the participant is less than age 65 and has a benefit in pay status that—

(i) Is being received as a disability benefit under a plan provision requiring either receipt of or eligibility for Social Security disability benefits, or

(ii) Was converted under the plan's terms from a disability benefit under a plan provision requiring either receipt of or eligibility for Social Security disability benefits to an early or normal retirement benefit for any reason other than a change in the participant's health status.

(2) Non-Social Security disabled. A participant is non-Social Security disabled if, on the valuation date, the participant is less than age 65, is not Social Security disabled, and has a benefit in pay status that—

(i) Is being received as a disability benefit under the plan, or

(ii) Was converted under the plan's terms from a disability benefit to an early or normal retirement benefit for any reason other than a change in the participant's health status.

(g) Contingent annuitant mortality during deferral period. If a participant's joint and survivor benefit is valued as a deferred annuity, the mortality of the contingent annuitant during the deferral period will be disregarded.

(h) Missing participants mortality. The following mortality table is used to value benefits using “PBGC missing participants assumptions” under part 4050, subparts A, C, and D of this chapter.

Table 4 to Paragraph (h)—Missing Participants Unisex Mortality Table

Age Benefit determination
dates in 2024
Benefit determination
dates in 2025
00.002070.00204 10.000150.00014 20.000100.00009 30.000080.00007 40.000060.00006 50.000060.00005 60.000050.00005 70.000050.00005 80.000040.00004 90.000040.00004 100.000040.00004 110.000040.00004 120.000050.00005 130.000060.00006 140.000080.00007 150.000090.00009 160.000100.00010 170.000120.00012 180.000140.00014 190.000160.00015 200.000160.00016 210.000170.00016 220.000170.00017 230.000180.00018 240.000190.00019 250.000200.00019 260.000210.00020 270.000220.00021 280.000230.00022 290.000230.00023 300.000250.00025 310.000260.00026 320.000280.00027 330.000300.00030 340.000320.00031 350.000340.00034 360.000360.00036 370.000380.00038 380.000400.00040 390.000430.00042 400.000440.00044 410.000460.00045 420.000480.00047 430.000490.00049 440.000520.00051 450.000540.00053 460.000580.00057 470.000610.00060 480.000650.00064 490.000700.00069 500.000760.00076 510.000850.00084 520.000950.00094 530.001060.00105 540.001200.00118 550.001430.00141 560.001770.00174 570.002050.00202 580.002390.00235 590.002760.00273 600.003210.00317 610.003700.00365 620.004410.00434 630.005140.00507 640.005770.00570 650.006580.00650 660.007480.00738 670.008340.00823 680.009280.00916 690.010340.01021 700.011550.01141 710.012940.01278 720.014520.01435 730.016310.01611 740.018370.01815 750.020730.02049 760.023450.02317 770.026560.02626 780.030120.02979 790.034170.03382 800.038990.03862 810.043950.04356 820.049590.04916 830.055950.05549 840.063170.06267 850.071380.07083 860.080630.08005 870.091070.09044 880.102860.10220 890.115960.11526 900.130360.12962 910.145400.14463 920.160900.16012 930.176790.17601 940.192840.19206 950.208980.20822 960.226200.22545 970.243860.24311 980.261960.26123 990.280590.27986 1000.299600.29887 1010.318910.31817 1020.338250.33748 1030.357570.35673 1040.376700.37583 1050.395210.39436 1060.413270.41245 1070.430800.42999 1080.447430.44667 1090.463390.46271 1100.476280.47568 1110.484680.48417 1120.492680.49226 1130.496660.49634 1140.497950.49773 1150.499280.49915 1160.499600.49953 1170.499780.49973 1180.499950.49993 1190.500000.50000 1201.000001.00000
[70 FR 72207, Dec. 2, 2005, as amended at 89 FR 48300, June 6, 2024; 89 FR 104041, Dec. 20, 2024]