Author: dcadmin

Is Congress setting itself up for a pension crisis?
Who wants to hear about pensions? No one. But that’s sort of the point! Yesterday, I noted that the Senate’s two-year highway bill used a few gimmicks to paper over shortfalls in gas-tax revenue. And one of those was a little-noticed tweak in pension rules that could end up being quite important.

The latest on American Airlines
Most American Airlines employees can breathe a sigh of relief (sort of), now that the company has announced that it would not seek to terminate three out of four of its pension plans as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. Rather, the company will freeze those plans, meaning that employees will stop earning benefits after a […]

Don’t ignore retirement insecurity
When American Airlines went into bankruptcy in November, our phones started ringing. I’m with the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. We insure private pensions, and American told its 130,000 employees that they would lose theirs. They called us to ask what would happen: What would they get when they retire?

After the Storm, the Little Nest Eggs That Couldn’t
In many ways, things are looking up for America’s economy. After several years of roller-coaster-ish volatility, the Dow Jones industrial average has climbed to its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Economic growth, though not robust, has been gathering steam, and the unemployment rate has been inching downward, although fitfully. While economic experts voice […]

Pension Rights Center testifies in support of a Connecticut bill about public retirement plans (March 6, 2012)
Written Statement by Karen Friedman of the Pension Rights Center in Support of H.B. 5337, an Act Establishing a Task Force to Evaluate the Utility of Creating a Public Retirement PlanBefore the Committee on Aging of the Connecticut General Assembly Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify today. My […]