Blogs & Newsletters
Older Americans Month 2015 – Helping older Americans get into the act
May 1 marked the start of Older Americans Month, a time when the aging services community highlights the country’s older Americans and the programs that serve them. Sponsored by the Administration for Community Living, the theme for this year’s Older Americans Month is “Get into the Act.” In my position as Digital and Outreach Director […]
A “Gettysburg Address” on pension promises
Last week, I spoke to an auditorium full of economics and public policy students at Gettysburg College, as part of the Economics Department’s Finance Symposium. This year’s topic: “Re-Defined Benefits: The Past, Present, and Future of Defined Benefit Pensions in the United States.” You can read my speech here or watch the entire symposium on […]
Glimmers of hope for victims of unfair pension takebacks
In a recent article, “Can They Grab Your Pension?”, AARP Bulletin highlights the problem of recoupment – when a pension plan overpays a retiree and then demands that the retiree pay back the overpayment. To recoup the money, the plan usually reduces the retiree’s benefit. It might also demand that the retiree pay a lump […]
Signed, Sealed and Delivered! 1,500+ comments delivered to the Internal Revenue Service
Yesterday afternoon, Karen Friedman, Nancy Hwa and I hand-delivered more than 1,500 comments to the Internal Revenue Service. These comments were in response to the Treasury Department’s Request for Information on future guidance relating to the implementation of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, a law that for the first time allows the trustees […]
Spouses should have a say in whether survivor benefits will be provided
A recent New York Post article drew attention to a widow facing a tragic situation. Her husband, a retired police officer, had taken his own life. Without going into the grisly details of the case, her husband wanted to cause his wife as much pain as possible. Three weeks before his suicide, the retiree changed […]
President Obama calls for new consumer protections
At a briefing hosted by AARP yesterday, I had the privilege of watching President Obama announce his support for a proposed rule to put a brake on conflicts of interest in investment advice for retirement accounts. The event set the stage for the release of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule to the Office […]
PBGC report highlights importance of pension counseling
We at the Pension Rights Center have long recognized the important role that U.S. Administration on Aging’s Pension Counseling and Information Program (PCIP) plays in protecting the legal rights of retirees and their families. So we were gratified to see that sentiment echoed by Constance Donovan, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Participant and Plan Sponsor […]
High marks for retirement plans
This week, President Obama unveiled his economic fixes for the middle-class. Among them was a proposal for Automatic IRAs, which he has championed since the Administration’s early days. While the Automatic IRA is a first step in expanding coverage for those without an employer-based plan, a recent Bloomberg View article, “Experts Found the U.S. Retirement […]
Happy 40th, ERISA!
Forty years ago this week, bell-bottom jeans were still in style, the Vietnam War was coming to a close, and Watergate was still riveting the nation. Against this backdrop of social unrest, there was also a focus on broken pension promises. Back then, tens of thousands of people were losing their pensions because few laws […]
The Case of the Deleted Social Security Data: Why It is Bad for Workers and Retirees
In their 2014 report on the finances of Social Security, the trustees of the system deleted key information on the replacement rates of Social Security. What’s the harm in that, right? Isn’t this just a technical or administrative issue? According to Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and one […]
Pensions lost and (hopefully) found
Imagine earning a pension after many years of hard work with a company. Then you leave your employer before retiring and without claiming your pension. When you reach retirement age, you expect to be able to start receiving that pension but you are unable to find the employer or the plan. Your pension plan is […]
Unemployed today, no retirement savings tomorrow
Last week, I accompanied Karen Friedman to Witness Wednesday, where she spoke about the fact that too many people who have lost their jobs and whose unemployment benefits have expired have had to dip into their 401(k) savings to pay for basic needs. She said, “If people use up their 401(k) money today…what will they […]
