Month: January 2012
Retiree benefit cuts a given; which ones?
Retiree benefits aren’t as secure as they used to be, as auto and airline workers and others have learned in recent years.
Workers fight switch to church pension plans
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA, regulates most private-sector pensions. But it has always exempted plans operated directly by churches for their clergy and employees to make it easier for the churches to operate their plans.
N.J. workers at religious institutions fear change threatens pensions
Tens of thousands of current and former employees at scores of religiously affiliated institutions across the country face the same fear, as nonprofits increasingly seek refuge in “church” pension plans to escape onerous financial obligations, according to Eric Loi, an attorney at the Washington D.C.-based Pension Rights Center.
Is a 401(k) match really “free money”?
This week’s issue of Time features an article by Stephen Gandel called “How 401(k)s Make Many Americans Poorer.” It sheds light on a new study conducted by the Urban Institute and published by the Center for Retirement Research. The study finds that employees at companies that provide an employer match to 401(k) contributions tend to […]
Required Reading: How 401(k)s Make Many Americans Poorer
One of the most widely dispensed, and universally accepted, pieces of financial advice is that you should contribute at least enough to your 401(k) to get the full match from your company. If you don’t, so the wisdom goes, you will be giving up free money. Well, it turns out that money isn’t exactly “free.” […]
Some church-linked pension funds drop ERISA coverage
Legal exemptions that allow church-affiliated organizations to sidestep ERISA protections for their defined benefit pension plans increasingly are being used for less-than-holy purposes…[NOTE: A slightly different version of this article appears in Business Insurance.]
Persistence pays off in finding a lost pension
With his 65th birthday approaching, Richard Zimmerer started making phone calls about a pension from a job he held until his mid-40s.
