PRC In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer: Dozens of Wanamakers Employees Never Got Their Pensions
Former Wanamakers employee Bill Whiting started a Facebook group and found more than 40 others who didn’t get their pensions.
WSJ: His Ex Is Getting His $1 Million Retirement Account. They Broke Up in 1989.
“Inertia has the upper hand,” said Norman Stein, a law professor at Drexel University and senior policy adviser at the Pension Rights Center.
Bloomberg Law: Pending DOL Report to Consider Pension Risk Transfer Changes
“We look forward to seeing the report, which we very much hope will include PRC’s recommendations to strengthen protections for workers and retirees when companies transfer their pension liabilities to insurance companies,” said Karen Friedman, PRC’s executive director. “Plan participants lose a lot in these transactions—including valuable [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation] insurance and other ERISA […]
Bloomberg Law: Athene-Linked Pension Cases Strike at Need for New DOL Guidance
Annuity-only providers such as Athene may be uniquely prone to risks, because they lack the asset diversification individual life insurers enjoy, said Norman Stein, senior policy counsel at the Pension Rights Center, which advocates for the return of more traditional defined-benefit pensions and opposes pension risk transfers.
Bloomberg Law: AT&T, Lockheed Suits Mark First Real Test for Pension Transfers
Labor Department guidance requires employers seek out the “safest available annuity,” Norman Stein, senior policy counsel for the Pension Rights Center, said. That standard may not be satisfied if employers opt to work with an insurance company facing significant criticism instead of one that’s universally respected, he said.
ASPPA: Recordkeeping in the Electronic Age
Recordkeeping today is not your grandfather’s recordkeeping. Maybe not even your older sibling’s. So guidance and education from the Department of Labor (DOL) would be helpful in adjusting to the changes that have taken place, concludes a recently released report.
NYT: Retirees’ Pensions Were Restored. Debate About It Hasn’t Died.
Cathy Green has never paid much attention to what goes on in Congress. But when she learned that a federal law would allow her pension to be cut by as much as 30 percent, she became alarmed.
InvestmentNews: Companies transferred billions in pension assets to annuities. Here come the lawsuits
If the lawsuits progress, there’s a lot that observers might learn about how companies solicit and evaluate bids, said Norman Stein, senior policy counsel and acting legal director at the Pension Rights Center.
Forbes: One Easy Way To Boost Your 401(k) Account, Starting Now
“Participants who withdraw plan funds to cover non-retirement expenses,” notes the Pension Rights Center, “no matter how justified, are shortchanging their future. Every dollar withdrawn will no longer be in the account where it can grow tax deferred. That lost principle, combined with the loss of potential interest and investment gains over what could be […]
Pensions & Investments: Congress should reject attempts to block fiduciary rule using spending bills – coalition
The Save our Retirement Coalition — made up of nine organizations, including AARP, AFL-CIO, Better Markets and Pension Rights Center — specifically asked that Congress reject any appropriations riders aimed at prohibiting the use of funds for finalizing, implementing or enforcing the Labor Department’s proposed rule in a letter dated Feb. 15, sent to Senate […]
Forbes: Why You Should Demand A Guaranteed Pension From Your Employer
“What’s fueling this desire for pensions?” asks David Brandolph at the Pension Rights Center. “Workers are increasingly dissatisfied with the shortcomings of 401(k)-type plans that require do-it-yourself investing.”
Pensions & Investments: Is renewed interest in DB plans real, or just a pipe dream?
The news around corporate defined benefit plans over the past couple decades has been bleak, with companies expeditiously freezing or terminating plans. But with some help out of Washington, experts say there’s an opportunity for employers to reopen plans still on their books or provide their workers with guaranteed income in retirement.
