Blogs & Newsletters
Western States Pension Assistance Project Helps Retiree Prove Eligibility for Pension
A 62-year-old Western States Pension Assistance Project (WSPAP) client, Mary, was preparing for retirement. She had earned a pension for her work at a Californian telephone company in the 1980s. Mary routinely checked her electronic statements to confirm that her monthly benefit would be around $250 per month. However, before reaching the normal retirement age of […]
A Tribute to Pension Rights Center’s Esteemed Board Member Daniel Halperin
The Pension Rights Center is deeply saddened by the unexpected death of our long-time friend, colleague, and esteemed board member, Daniel I. Halperin. He was 89. The chair of the Pension Rights Center board, Nancy Altman, said “He was a giant of a man who will be dearly missed. Not only was he a decades-long […]
DOL Needs to Strengthen Plan Disclosure Notice Requirements
By David Brandolph A recent New York Times (NYT) article demonstrates why, in this age of online accounts, it’s so important to have and retain paper copies of our financial statements and documents, including retirement plan disclosures. In the article, columnist Tara Siegal Bernard fielded a question from a woman living in Colorado who lost […]
Spring Newsletter
Save the Date: the PRC is Celebrating its 50th Anniversary For five decades, the Pension Rights Center has helped workers and retirees secure their earned retirement benefits and championed improvements to our nation’s private sector retirement system. The Center will celebrate this milestone in Washington, DC on November 5th at the Planet Word museum in […]
State Auto-IRA Programs Boosting Creation of Small-Employer Plans
By David Brandolph Over the past decade, many states have started mandatory auto-IRA programs to give private-sector workers whose employers don’t sponsor a retirement plan an opportunity to easily save for retirement at their workplace. A study published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College by Adam Bloomfield, Manita Rao and Sita Slavov, […]
Happy Valentine’s Day from the PRC
Every year on Valentine’s Day, we write a love letter to all our donors. This Valentine’s Day is extra special, because 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the Pension Rights Center. For a half century, we’ve been working to protect and promote the retirement income security of American workers, retirees, and their families—all thanks to the generous supporters […]
Western States Pension Assistance Project Helps Retiree Receive Earned Benefits
Henrietta, an older adult living in California, worked at a telecommunications company for ten years and left the company with a vested retirement benefit. However, when Henrietta applied for retirement at age 65, she was told by the plan administrator that they would not distribute her benefit because of an IRS levy letter. Even though […]
Don’t Look Now, But Financial Scammers Are Targeting You
By David Brandolph Last July, The Independent (UK) reported a story in which a Florida woman, Sharon Brigthwell, got a call from a number that appeared to be from her daughter. When Brightwell answered, a frantic voice identical to her daughter’s said that she had been arrested after hitting a pregnant woman with her car […]
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 […]
Pension Counseling Projects Making Life-Altering Difference
Two incredible success stories from the Mid-America Pension Project highlight the fact that people getting assistance from the Pension Counseling Projects often have positive, life-changing outcomes. The Mid-America Pension Project is one of six counseling projects supported by the Administration on Community Living that provide critical assistance to people with retirement benefit problems in 31 […]
Pension Frights on Halloween
By David Brandolph On October 31, ghosts, goblins and vampires run amok. But on this Halloween, what scares the Pension Rights Center is the altogether frightening prospect that millions of people won’t be able to retire with adequate income. What we see in PRC’s magic “mirror-mirror on the wall” (that always tells the hard truth) […]
It’s Time to Celebrate Social Security’s Birthday
By David Brandolph Let’s all raise a glass in honor of Social Security, the nation’s most successful social insurance program, as it celebrates its 90th anniversary. On August 14, 1935, America was mired in the Great Depression with roughly one-half of our nation’s elderly living in poverty. On that day, precisely 90 years ago, President […]
