Blogs & Newsletters
PRC is here for you
By Karen Friedman All of us are dealing with how to stay safe as the deadly Coronavirus, COVID-19, quickly spreads across America, and much of the globe. But while we all are hunkering down, trying to adjust to this new strange and scary reality, we want you to know that the Pension Rights Center is […]
Getting a divorce? Skip the roses for Valentine’s Day – and protect your pension
By Karen Friedman Valentine’s Day is for love. Except when it isn’t. What happens when love fades, the marriage crumbles, and you end up getting a divorce? Well, one piece of important advice for the broken-hearted on this Valentine’s Day is to take care of yourself financially. This is particularly important when it comes to […]
Rescue of miners’ pensions gives hope to musicians, truck drivers and other retirees
By David Brandolph Retirees around the country cheered when congressional leaders included the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 in a must pass end-of-the-year federal government spending bill signed by the President. The new law provides funds to pay the pensions of 92,000 retired miners. The money will come from surplus assets held in the […]
The nation’s pensioners have lost a great champion
By Karen Friedman Sometimes our blogs are about pensions. Today it’s about something more personal. Today we went to a memorial service for a Senate staffer who really mattered. Over 1,000 people – friends, family, Senators, staffers, pension and tax colleagues — packed a Senate room to pay their respects to Chris Allen, who died […]
My day at the Supreme Court
By Emily Gilbert Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm. v. Sulyma. PRC had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, and I was excited to get to be there in person. Oral arguments are open to the public, but there are usually only 20-30 seats available on a […]
PRC News, November 27, 2019
Happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful that thanks to you, we are able to help others. Here’s what we’ve been up to recently: Tackling the problems of getting court-awarded retirement benefits at divorce: One in five people who contact the Pension Rights Center for legal help are calling because they are struggling to obtain a share […]
Labor Department proposes to send you down a rabbit hole to find your retirement information
By Karen Friedman The Department of Labor, the agency charged with protecting workers’ and retirees’ retirement rights, wants to adopt a new rule that would make it harder for you to get the information you need to plan for your retirement and watchdog your pension or 401(k) plan. The deadline for the public to respond […]
St. Clare’s retirees take action to protect their pensions
By Kyle Garrett As the Pension Rights Center’s Operations and Referrals Manager, I hear from thousands of individuals each year. Over the past decade, many of these calls and e-mails have come from people who worked for religiously affiliated hospitals, schools, and social services agencies. These individuals – former orderlies, executives, nurses, social workers, and […]
Social Security turns 84!
By Emily Gilbert During a week of volatility in the stock market, retirees are happily celebrating the 84th birthday of the Social Security System—a universal social insurance program that guarantees their benefits no matter what direction their 401(k) or personal investments are heading. Since 1935, Social Security has been the cornerstone of the retirement income […]
Butch Lewis Act passes House, reintroduced in Senate
By Karen Friedman Yippee! Congratulations to everyone! The Butch Lewis Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night. And I had the privilege of sitting upstairs in the House Gallery of the Capitol watching the debate with hundreds of activists, including Rita Lewis, who is the widow of Butch, the bill’s namesake, as well […]
Butch Lewis Act on path to House floor vote as bill approved by Ways and Means Committee
By David Brandolph Retirees, workers, spouses and widows who have been fighting intensely for many years to protect their hard-earned multiemployer plan pensions have reason to celebrate. The bill that they’ve been backing to fix a looming pension crisis was voted out of the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday and is on a path […]
Butch Lewis Act approved in the House Education & Labor Committee
By Emily Gilbert On Tuesday, Karen Friedman, Katie Jonckheer (our new summer intern), and I were on Capitol Hill for a markup in the Education & Labor Committee in the House of Representatives. In a markup, a congressional committee votes on whether to approve proposed legislation. On Tuesday the Committee discussed three different bills, one […]
