Author: dcadmin
May is Older Americans Month
May is Older Americans Month, a time to celebrate the contributions older Americans have made to society – and to focus attention on the many services available to older Americans as a part of the Older Americans Act. The services that we at the Pension Rights Center are most proud of are those provided by […]
Early Tap of 401(k) Replaces Homes as American Piggy Bank
Premature withdrawals from retirement accounts have become America’s new piggy bank, cracked open in record amounts during lean times by people like Cindy Cromie, who needed the money to rent a U-Haul and start a new life.
Dancing through retirement
I was struck by a recent Wall Street Journal article about a new craze overtaking China: retirees all across the country are “getting down,” having dance parties in parks, courtyards, and other public spaces in order to have fun and stay in shape. In an ironic turn, the article says that the music and the […]
Taking Charge: You can get help unraveling your pension benefits
The New England Pension Assistance Project is featured in this column, in which a reader asks for advice on getting information on his or her retirement plans.
IRS Rollover Guidance Eases Process, Improves Benefit Portability, Analysts Say
When changing employers, individuals and their new retirement plan administrators have faced a time-consuming administrative process in proving the tax status of a plan rollover. And instead of dealing with the hurdles to validate a rollover, many individuals would transfer savings into individual retirement accounts or cash out the balance.
Thought Secure, Pooled Pensions Teeter and Fall
The pensions of millions of Americans are being threatened because of trouble in a part of the retirement world long considered so safe that no one gave it a second thought.
New Law Set to Protect Pensioners in Some Religiously-Affiliated Nonprofits
WASHINGTON – On April 7, President Obama signed the Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act into law. (P.L. 113-97). The law allows pension plans that are run by charities and cooperative associations for groups of related employers to continue to receive relief from federal funding rules under certain conditions. One condition applies to […]
Federal judge: Saint Peter’s pension case can proceed
A New Jersey federal district court judge recently ruled that the pension plan of city-based Saint Peter’s University Hospital is not a “church plan” exempt from the protections of federal pension law.
Decision in Saint Peter’s “Church Plan” Case a Victory for Workers and Retirees; Lawsuit against Hospital Can Proceed
WASHINGTON – On Monday, a New Jersey federal district court judge ruled that a pension plan established by religiously-affiliated hospital is not a “church plan” exempt from the protections of federal pension law. The Honorable Michael A. Shipp denied a motion to dismiss filed by the hospital in a lawsuit brought by a former hospital […]
Courts question law leaving pensions unprotected
New rulings against Catholic hospital chains on both coasts have intensified a faceoff between religiously affiliated employers and workers who are alarmed by the companies’ efforts to avoid insuring or funding their pensions.
Challenges to 2 church plans move forward
On Monday, a U.S. District Court in New Jersey dismissed a motion by Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, New Brunswick, N.J., to stop a lawsuit by pension plan participants challenging a recent ruling by the IRS that it was a church plan exempt from ERISA. The IRS determination, wrote Judge Michael Shipp, “conflicts with the plain […]
