Cracking Open Today’s Retirement Strategies
The days when workers could count on a comfortable retirement after a lifetime of company devotion are a distant memory for most. Public pension funds across the country teeter on the edge of collapse, and the traditional company pensions that sustained previous generations through their golden years are fading into the sunset.
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 […]
Retiree benefit cuts a given; which ones?
Retiree benefits aren’t as secure as they used to be, as auto and airline workers and others have learned in recent years.
Workers fight switch to church pension plans
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA, regulates most private-sector pensions. But it has always exempted plans operated directly by churches for their clergy and employees to make it easier for the churches to operate their plans.
N.J. workers at religious institutions fear change threatens pensions
Tens of thousands of current and former employees at scores of religiously affiliated institutions across the country face the same fear, as nonprofits increasingly seek refuge in “church” pension plans to escape onerous financial obligations, according to Eric Loi, an attorney at the Washington D.C.-based Pension Rights Center.
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 […]
Required Reading: How 401(k)s Make Many Americans Poorer
One of the most widely dispensed, and universally accepted, pieces of financial advice is that you should contribute at least enough to your 401(k) to get the full match from your company. If you don’t, so the wisdom goes, you will be giving up free money. Well, it turns out that money isn’t exactly “free.” […]
Some church-linked pension funds drop ERISA coverage
Legal exemptions that allow church-affiliated organizations to sidestep ERISA protections for their defined benefit pension plans increasingly are being used for less-than-holy purposes…[NOTE: A slightly different version of this article appears in Business Insurance.]
Persistence pays off in finding a lost pension
With his 65th birthday approaching, Richard Zimmerer started making phone calls about a pension from a job he held until his mid-40s.
Retirement pros have questions for candidates
I asked top retirement and aging policy experts this question: “If you could pose one question in a presidential debate to the Republican and Democratic nominees, what would it be?”
Tax Reform Will Shape Pension Agenda; Significant Regulations Expected in 2012
Congress will pass no major retirement plan legislation in 2012, but the tax treatment of employment-based retirement benefits almost certainly will be part of any tax code overhaul in 2013—for which ideas and positions will become cemented in 2012— according to practitioners interviewed by BNA.
The Anxious Generation
Stressed-out Americans over 50 wonder if they’re ever going to be able to retire. They worry that the Great Recession will have a lasting impact on their security.
