Month: July 2012
Sen. Harkin Outlines Pension Proposal Based on Privately Trusteed Hybrid Model
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) released a retirement security proposal July 27, saying he will formally introduce legislation next year but that he wants candidates to debate the proposal during congressional and presidential campaigns this fall.
Sen. Harkin proposes retirement plan revamp, Social Security fix
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, on Friday proposed a way to bolster retirement savings at work, plus a series of improvements to Social Security.
Democratic Senator Proposes New Type Of Retirement Plan
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) outlined the principles for a new type of retirement plan in a report released today. This sort of plan is sorely needed given the current state of retirement savings.
Is This the Solution to America’s Retirement Crisis?
A provocative economics professor wants to overhaul the 401(k) system with Guaranteed Retirement Accounts
Pension plans keep more retirees out of poverty, reduce reliance on public assistance
Study: Defined-benefit pensions not only aid seniors but also provide a public service
Pension Rights Center Applauds Senator Harkin for Bold Proposal to Solve Nation’s Retirement Crisis
Today the Pension Rights Center applauded Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, for his new report, The Retirement Crisis and a Plan to Solve It. “Senator Harkin’s bold report identifies the causes of the retirement crisis and proposes imaginative and realistic solutions to the address the crisis,” said […]
4 Ways to Fix the 401k Mess
Recently, InvestorPlace Editor Jeff Reeves discussed the plight of older Americans regarding their retirement savings — or lack thereof. He cites an Aon Hewitt report showing that the average 60-year-old has $114,500 in his or her 401k, which provides approximately $4,600 per year over a 25-year period.
COLAs Vanishing from Pension Plans
Much like rotary phones, snail mail and pension plans in general, cost-of-living allowances are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, new research finds. But, for those organizations considering a COLA, experts say they should implement one on an age-segmented basis to the workforce.
Armed with fee info, plan sponsors bailing on service providers
Mandated retirement plan fee disclosure has been in effect for only a few weeks, but plan sponsors are already bailing on costly service providers.
Women Seen Living Retirement in Poverty at Higher Rates Than Men
Women age 65 and older live in poverty at higher rates than men even as more of them participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office study.
401(k) accounts are “leaking” due to loan defaults
Most financial advisers say borrowing from your 401(k) retirement account should be a last resort, but 20 to 30 percent of plan participants do so anyway. Since the Great Recession, a growing number of people have been defaulting on those loans, at great cost to their future retirement security.
Our Ridiculous Approach to Retirement
I work on retirement policy, so friends often want to talk about their own retirement plans and prospects. While I am happy to have these conversations, my friends usually walk away feeling worse — for good reason.
