More on the meltdown
What a week. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch’s sale to Bank of America, and the government rescue of AIG were just the latest upheavals in this churning Subprime Summer. I’ve been getting calls every day from reporters, wanting to interview people who are concerned about their 401(k) accounts. People are right to be concerned. […]
How does the Wall Street meltdown affect my pension?
In the past few days, large companies on Wall Street have been closing left and right, making the people who work at these companies jittery about many issues, including their retirement security. The good news for these employees is that the money in their pension and 401(k) plans is protected from creditors, so that even when […]
Testimony on 401(k) fee disclosure by Olena Berg Lacy on behalf of PRC to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
September 17, 2008: Board member Olena Berg Lacy testified [PDF] on the Center’s behalf on improving the disclosure of 401(k) fees at a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Rebecca Davis’s presentation on “Planning for the Future: What Working Women Need to Know about Social Security and Retirement Savings”
September 10, 2008: PRC Staff Attorney Rebecca Davis gave a presentation [PDF] as part of a webinar called “Planning for the Future: What Working Women Need to Know about Social Security and Retirement Savings.” The National Women’s Law Center sponsored this free webinar.
PRC comments to EBSA on proposed regulations for disclosure in participant-directed individual account plans (09/08/2008)
The Pension Rights Center submitted comments to the Employee Benefits Security Administration on the Department of Labor’s proposed regulations for fiduciary requirements for disclosure in participant-directed individual account plans. While generally supportive of greater disclosure, the Center took issue with several aspects of the proposed regulations.
Happy birthday, ERISA!
By Rebecca Davis Happy 34th Birthday, ERISA! Today marks the 34th anniversary of the date that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, known to those in the field of pensions as ERISA, was signed into law. In a tribute to the workers who would be helped by the new law, that day, September […]
Bankruptcies rising among older Americans
An Associated Press story appearing in the Washington Post this week carries disturbing news about the deteriorating financial health of older Americans. According to an analysis by the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, which studied bankruptcies filed between 1991 and 2007, the bankruptcy filing rate has risen dramatically for Americans over the age of 55, with the […]
The paper chase: Keeping track of your pension
By Kyle Garrett Every day I receive calls from workers and retirees who need help with their pensions. Often, the people I speak to are looking for lost pension income that their employers promised would arrive at a critical time in their lives – retirement. These callers may be having trouble locating their pensions or […]
How the rich get richer
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published a shocking exposé about how companies are using pension plans – which are intended for rank-and-file workers – to covertly fund the executive benefits of their highest-paid officers. WSJ journalists Ellen Schultz and Theo Francis report that “At a time when scores of companies are freezing pensions […]
Social insecurity
Last week the federal minimum wage rose to $6.55 an hour, increasing the annual earnings for a full-time minimum wage worker to $13,624. While it’s certainly the right move for Congress to raise the minimum wage for current workers, it raises an important question about retired workers. Take a look at our statistics page and […]
How much does a 401(k) really cost?
When I was head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (the Department of Labor agency charged with protecting pensions) during the Clinton administration, I became concerned about whether or not people who had 401(k) plans truly understood how much they were paying in fees and what those fees were for. So in 1997 and 1998, […]
Robbing your retirement piggy bank
By Nancy Hwa In an earlier blog post, we discussed efforts in Congress to make it easier for people to withdraw money from their 401(k) accounts to save their homes from foreclosure. Such withdrawals are part of a larger problem with 401(k)s known as “leakage” (what a lovely name!) – loans, early withdrawals, and lump-sum […]
