Blogs & Newsletters
Why regulations matter
In today’s anti-government political environment, there’s a lot of rhetoric thrown around about the bugaboo “excessive regulation.” Just last week, I heard a spokesperson for Dupont tell a congressional committee that the decline of traditional pensions was due, in large part, to a “burdensome regulatory regime.” We hear this time and again in almost every […]
PBGC urges bankruptcy court to protect pensions for Harry & David employees
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently announced that it has asked a bankruptcy court to continue the company’s defined benefit pension plan, siding with the employees and retirees of Harry & David Holdings Inc. The food and fruit gift basket company is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is attempting to terminate its underfunded […]
Retirement…What’s that?
Yesterday I attended a hearing held by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Called Stories from the Kitchen Table: How Middle Class Families are Struggling to Make Ends Meet, the hearing focused on the all-too-familiar challenges that many of America’s middle class families are facing due to the economic downturn. I was particularly […]
Snail mail or e-mail? The Labor Department wants to know.
How would you prefer to receive information about your retirement plan: delivered by regular mail on paper or electronically by e-mail? What if you don’t use a computer at work and only have access to a computer at home? What if your home computer is old and doesn’t work very well, or if you don’t […]
Hey, Republicans and Democrats: Are you listening?
On NPR this morning, Morning Edition aired a story on the Republican Leadership Conference, which is taking place in New Orleans this weekend. At one point, the reporter interviewed two women who were waiting in line to meet former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. The interview includes this brief exchange, which comes at 1:20 in the […]
Senator cites the Retirement Income Deficit
In May, Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) introduced S. 1020, the Savings Enhancement by Alleviating Leakage in 401(k) Savings Act of 2011, or SEAL Act. As we’ve described before, “leakage” occurs when people cash in their 401(k)s or take out loans against their 401(k)s so that they can use the money for […]
Gold-Plated Retirement?
In “The elderly are better off than advertised” Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson attacks what he calls “selective and self-serving statistics” that have been cited by defenders of Social Security and Medicare. According to Samuelson, such statistics are used to oppose cuts in these vital programs and support an “outdated and propagandistic notion that […]
Retirement under attack
Look out, people, Congress is launching an all-out attack on the retirement security of current and future retirees. Under the guise of cutting federal and state budget deficits, there is a an all-out assault on Social Security, Medicare and public pension plans – all programs that are central to providing economic well-being to millions of Americans. […]
The “happiest place on earth” doesn’t have retirement security
It appears that Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck may find themselves in deep trouble when they retire. According to Central Florida’s News Channel 13, the Walt Disney Company is likely cutting its workers’ pensions* by changing the formula used to calculate benefits for current workers and by dropping pensions for new workers. Mickey and Donald […]
Oklahoma appreciates its military spouses
Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. A fitting day to tell you all that current and former military spouses (especially those in Oklahoma) can breathe a sigh of relief. This is because the Oklahoma State legislature failed to pass a measure that would have hurt former spouses – mostly civilian women – involved in military […]
GE’s deep pension freeze
When I first saw the story that General Electric (GE) was closing its traditional pension plan to new hires I thought about lifelong activist and friend Helen Quirini and knew that she would be furious! Helen was a long-time GE employee who fought for cost-of-living adjustments in GE retirement plans. Sadly, Helen died last fall, […]
What’s in a Name?
At the Pension Rights Center, we deal with a lot of technical language that can be puzzling to people who don’t work on retirement income issues. But the meaning of words is important, even if you don’t use them every day, and, when it comes to the law, a word’s meaning can make all the […]
