Happy Holidays from the PRC
While our nation faces a number of economic challenges, the Pension Rights Center continues, with singular focus, on our mission to improve retirement income security, particularly for low- and moderate-income workers.
For almost fifty years, the PRC has been a nationally recognized “consumer watchdog” that defends and advocates for the retirement income rights and benefits of workers, retirees, and their families.
To that end, we work not only to influence public policy, but also to help individual workers who have difficulty accessing their hard-earned retirement benefits. Our public policy wins may get the headlines, but our individual stories are no less meaningful.
For instance, among the more than 2,000 calls we received this year was one from Anne B. of Seattle. The pension plan of her former employer had failed to correctly calculate her benefit, but after we went to bat for her, her annual pension calculation was increased by over $12,000. Her thank you note reflects our unique role in such a situation: “You are the best of the best. Thank you so much for all your help and support. If I hadn’t found you, I would not have received the full pension I worked so hard to earn.”
As the year comes to an end, we want to take a moment to share some of our other recent accomplishments.
We are pleased to report that:
- The 2021 “Butch Lewis Act,” for which we fought long and hard, has proved to be a tremendous and unprecedented success. The program continues to provide funds to financially challenged pension plans which meet particular criteria, safeguarding the hard-earned pension benefits of some 1.4 million workers, retirees and beneficiaries.
- The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Registry, included in 2022 broader legislation at PRC’s urging, is now up and running. This searchable database, maintained by the Department of Labor, is still in its infancy but already has become an important tool for individuals having difficulty tracking down earned retirement benefits from former employers. In the coming year, we will work with congressional offices and other organizations to make the Registry as user friendly and effective as possible.
- PRC’s Initiative on Women and Retirement at Divorce addresses obstacles spouses, particularly older women, face in getting a fair share of retirement benefits at divorce—a real world problem frequently brought to our attention. This common ground initiative, which has brought together a variety of stakeholders, has developed plain English educational material for spouses going through divorce and has successfully piloted two webinars to train legal services lawyers on the basics of QDROs drafting. (A QDRO is the legal instrument necessary for dividing retirement income benefits at divorce.)
- PRC remains a trusted and valued voice for policy makers. In July, at the invitation of the Senate HELP Committee’s Ranking Member, PRC testified on the need to expand retirement plan coverage and adequacy for our nation’s workers. PRC also continues to regularly provide comments to the federal agencies that regulate retirement plans on proposals relevant to retirement income security.
- PRC’s On-the-Ground Legal Program continues to help individuals secure their retirement benefits, either through direct assistance or referrals to other legal services, fielding more than 2,000 requests this year. As the designated resource center for a network of pension counseling projects throughout the country, we provide project attorneys with technical assistance and professional development. We are pleased to report that since the program’s founding in 1993, the projects have recovered more than $294 million for some 70,000 individuals.
It’s been a busy, gratifying year, and we’re excited to carry on our work protecting and promoting the retirement income security of American workers and retirees in 2026. As a non-partisan, non-profit organization, we rely on donations from our generous supporters to sustain our work. We would be honored if you’d keep us in mind as you make your year-end donations.
From all of us at the Pension Rights Center, have a safe, joyful holiday season and a happy New Year.
