PRC In the News
11/19/13|Reuters

When your pension sponsor talks ‘de-risking’ – watch out

A growing number of employers are making plans to “de-risk” their pension plans. That’s jargon for reducing the financial risk posed to corporate balance sheets by pension plans – but if you have a defined-benefit pension and you start hearing that term tossed around, pay careful attention. Less risk for employers can mean more risk […]

Comments & Letters
11/15/13

PRC response to an RFI on the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (November 15, 2013)

The Center submitted comments [PDF] to the California State Treasurer in response to a Request for Information on the state’s new California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program. Related: PRC Letter to the Editor in the Sacramento Bee, supporting the California Secure Choice plan (03/23/2013 — scroll down to the 7th letter) Article: A crucial step […]

PRC In the News
11/15/13|MarketWatch

What to do if your pension is frozen

If you are among the few who still have a traditional defined-benefit pension plan we wish you luck. In the coming months your employer—as part of an effort to “de-risk” the plan—is likely going to offer you a lump-sum payout, an annuity, or freeze the plan.

PRC In the News
11/15/13|CNN/Money

Retired union workers facing ‘unprecedented’ pension cuts

Hundreds of thousands of retired union workers are facing pension cuts that could slash their monthly payments in half — or even more.

PRC In the News
11/14/13|Heartland Labor Forum

Pilfering Your Pension [audio]

PRC Executive Vice President and Policy Director Karen Friedman appeared on the Heartland Labor Forum to discuss the retirement income crisis and the threat of unprecedented cuts to earned pension benefits. Segment begins at approximately 35:00 in the program.

PRC In the News
11/11/13|Pensions & Investments

Corporate pension execs wary of derisking fallout

Corporate executives are bracing for regulatory judgment calls on how they handle derisking through lump-sum payments and annuity purchases, lobbyists say.

Blogs & Newsletters
11/05/13

ERISA at 40 – The past puts pension law in perspective

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), the law governing private retirement plans, has changed quite a bit since it was signed into law in 1974. There have been numerous amendments, court cases, regulatory actions and other developments. ERISA has had such an impact on Americans’ everyday lives that it has become a field of […]

PRC In the News
11/01/13|Institutional Investor

Pension Camelot?

A member of one of America’s most prominent families is taking on a crucial public policy issue: retirement. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, has joined the board of the Washington-based Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit that advocates for pension security. 

PRC In the News
10/31/13|BenefitsPro

Pension rights group objects to cutting retiree benefits

The Pension Rights Center agrees that many multiemployer pension plans are in financial distress right now, and that reforms are needed, but it told a House committee this week that it doesn’t agree with the idea of cutting existing benefits to retirees.

PRC In the News
10/31/13|Pensions & Investments

Union and retiree pressure mounting against multiemployer pension fund reform

At a hearing held Tuesday by the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions to consider possible legislation, members of the Retirement Security Review Commission discussed their reform proposals, which would allow for reduced benefits for future and possibly current retirees in the most troubled pension funds.

Press Release
10/29/13

Pension Rights Center Stands with Pensioners against Proposed Cuts

WASHINGTON – The Pension Rights Center released a statement today cautioning Congress against supporting a proposal that “endorses the unprecedented and dangerous step of empowering pension plan trustees … to slash benefits of men and women who are already in retirement and have no opportunity to replace lost benefits.” The statement, distributed at a hearing […]

Speeches & Statements
10/29/13

PRC statement on protecting employees, employers, and retirees when making reforms to the multiemployer pension system (October 29, 2013)

The Pension Rights Center submitted a statement for the Congressional record to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee for a hearing titled “Strengthening the Multiemployer Pension System: How Will Proposed Reforms Affect Employers, Workers, and Retirees?” In its statement, the Pension Rights Center opposed proposals […]