Blogs & Newsletters
How Safe Are the New GM Retirees’ Annuities?
Back in June, thousands of salaried General Motors retirees were given seven weeks to decide whether to take their pension as a lump sum or continue with their lifetime monthly payments. As Pension Rights Center Executive Vice President Karen Friedman wrote in a Detroit Free Press op-ed, the annuity was the better option for most […]
Great news for the land of Lincoln!
The Pension Rights Center is delighted to welcome the Illinois Pension Assistance Project (IPAP) as the latest addition to the Pension Counseling and Information Program. Now residents of Illinois who have a question about their traditional pension, 401(k) plan, or other employer-sponsored retirement plan can turn to IPAP for free personalized legal assistance to resolve […]
Highway bill includes good news and bad news — for pensions?
Today, Congress passed H.R. 4348, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which, among other things, re-authorized funding for the nation’s highways and extended the current low interest rate on student loans. Why is the Pension Rights Center following this bill? The answer is simple: Congress included major changes in pension law as […]
GM’s pension move is a lemon
Last week, General Motors announced that it will offer 42,000 of its salaried retirees the opportunity to take their lifetime monthly pension benefits as a one-time lump-sum payment. Retirees who don’t take the lump-sum offer will receive an annuity equivalent to their pensions from Prudential. While a lump sum might look like a lot of […]
Can we call it a comeback…for DB plans?
I hope so. According to a newly-released Towers Watson survey, it looks like defined benefit pension plans are making a comeback – especially among younger workers. According to the 2011 Towers Watson Retirement Attitudes Survey, younger workers are increasingly recognizing that guaranteed income in retirement should play a role in the decision-making process when selecting […]
Relying on tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot to fund your retirement?
Looking for ways to finance your retirement? If you’re like Jason Schutz of St. Cloud, Minnesota and you only have a 401(k) plan, you might have bought a lottery ticket for tonight’s record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot. In today’s USA Today, Schutz says that his only hope for retirement is to win the lottery. […]
To expand retirement security, a look to the states
There is a movement afoot to use the efficiencies of public retirement systems to administer new types of pension plans for private-sector workers. Last week, in a New York Times op-ed titled, “Don’t Cut Pensions, Expand Them,” Professor Teresa Ghilarducci of the New School for Social Research argued that, “Rather than curtailing public and private […]
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 […]
Setting the record straight: Saint Peter’s University Hospital’s pension plan
A new PRC fact sheet refutes claims made by Saint Peter’s University Hospital (SPUH) that its pension plan is a church plan and has never been subject to federal law. On Monday, SPUH president and CEO Ronald C. Rak sent a letter informing all pension plan participants that their pension, despite decades of actions and […]
The problem with Mitt Romney’s IRA
In the last few weeks Mitt Romney’s Individual Retirement Account has come under intense scrutiny because of the amount of money he has stashed away in it.The Wall Street Journal estimates the value of Romney’s IRA to be somewhere between a whopping $20 million and a staggering $101.6 million. Compare this to the numbers in […]
Is a 401(k) match really “free money”?
This week’s issue of Time features an article by Stephen Gandel called “How 401(k)s Make Many Americans Poorer.” It sheds light on a new study conducted by the Urban Institute and published by the Center for Retirement Research. The study finds that employees at companies that provide an employer match to 401(k) contributions tend to […]
[UPDATED] American Airlines’ bankruptcy – what does it mean for its pensions?
No doubt you’ve heard that American Airlines has filed for bankruptcy. The airline has four underfunded pension plans, and their fate is the source of much speculation. Despite meetings the company has held with employees to discuss their pensions, workers remain concerned. Will the company terminate the plans and dump their liabilities onto the Pension […]
