Technical Specifications for Scoring
The Governing Technical Standard for Professional Review
A public explanation of the governing technical framework used to define, model, and evaluate The Plan. The governing Technical Specifications for Scoring and integrated model remain controlled professional-review materials.
WHY THE TSS EXISTS
From Public Proposal to Scorable Framework
The public Plan explains the proposal’s architecture, objectives, protections, and fiscal discipline. Professional scoring requires a more exact governing standard. The Technical Specifications for Scoring convert the public proposal into a controlled technical framework that actuaries, economists, legislative drafters, administrators, and qualified reviewers can test consistently.
The TSS is designed to prevent ambiguity. It establishes which definitions control, how annual resources are allocated, how participant groups are treated, how notional retirement credits are recorded and paid, when funded Personal Retirement Accounts may activate, how Retirement Transition Certificates are issued and redeemed, which stabilizers may operate, and what conditions must be satisfied before final closure.
TECHNICAL GOVERNANCE
What the TSS Governs
The governing TSS addresses:
Definitions and order of precedence.
Participant classification and cohort treatment.
Conversion of preimplementation accrued value into notional retirement credits.
Annual notional accrual and termination rules.
Notional retirement-credit and Retirement Transition Certificate rules.
Annual cash-flow ordering, operating-reserve and tail-reserve requirements, and the two-year forward buffer.
The 10.6 percent mandatory OASI financing ceiling and the prohibitions on planned external borrowing and general-revenue financing.
Funded PRA activation and contribution allocation.
Individualized all-in end-state contribution rates, the 10.6 percent ceiling, and governing contribution-base rules.
Liquidity, benefit, contribution-base, and longevity stabilizers.
Benefit continuity, retirement adequacy, closure, tail-security, and certification tests.
Required scenario analysis, sensitivity testing, adverse-case analysis, documentation, and independent replication.
The integrated transition cash-flow model is the computational implementation companion. The TSS governs interpretation; the model implements the approved methodology.
End-state employer compensation conversion, employee-only contribution structure, retirement adequacy, and ULIC/family-protection requirements.
RTC-neutral PRA funding and final-call/closure rules.
PUBLIC VS. CONTROLLED MATERIALS
Two Levels of Disclosure
The Social Security Reform Project distinguishes between public explanatory materials and controlled technical materials.
Public materials include The Plan overview, The Goal, The Transition, Frequently Asked Questions, The Plan — Full Text, and this explanatory page.
Controlled materials include the governing Technical Specifications for Scoring, the integrated cash-flow model, confidential assumptions, working analyses, and related reviewer materials.
This distinction allows the public to understand the proposal while preserving the integrity, version control, confidentiality, and disciplined use of the technical documents required for serious professional review.
PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCE
Intended Professional Audience
The TSS is written for qualified reviewers whose work requires more than a public policy summary. Its intended audience includes:
Actuaries and actuarial organizations.
Economists and public-finance specialists.
Social Security policy experts.
Legislative counsel and congressional staff.
Treasury, Social Security Administration, and Office of the Chief Actuary professionals.
Retirement-system, investment, administrative, and fiduciary experts.
Qualified institutional researchers and members of the Social Security Reform Working Group.
CONTROLLED REVIEW
Qualified Professional Access
Qualified professionals may request controlled access for a defined professional review purpose. The Social Security Reform Project evaluates each request based on the applicant’s expertise, institutional role, proposed contribution, and willingness to comply with applicable confidentiality and controlled-review conditions. Approved materials are supplied manually; submission does not guarantee access.
GOVERNING AUTHORITY
Relationship to The Plan
The TSS does not replace independent judgment. It establishes the proposal to be tested. Independent reviewers are expected to challenge assumptions, identify weaknesses, test adverse conditions, replicate results, and recommend improvements.
The Plan is governed technically by Technical Specifications for Scoring, Version 2.8 (TSS v2.8), which defines the rules, assumptions, administrative requirements, certification tests, and computational doctrine needed for rigorous actuarial and professional evaluation.
The existence of a governing technical standard distinguishes a developed proposal from a general policy concept. The Social Security Reform Project has created the TSS so the plan can be examined against explicit rules, measurable conditions, reproducible methods, and binding fiscal constraints.
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