Pension plan fiduciaries get relief from Supreme Court
Defined benefit plan sponsors worried about fiduciary breach lawsuits welcomed a June 1 Supreme Court decision that significantly raises the threshold for when participants have standing to sue, while participant advocates fretted over what they see as a loss of long-standing protections.
As insurance companies take over pension plans, are your payments at risk?
How safe is your pension? As COVID-19 shutdowns hobble the U.S. economy, the question has taken on more urgency.
Are public pensions doomed because of the coronavirus pandemic? State, local budgets feel pain
Corey Shelton, an eighth grade science teacher in Jackson, Michigan, has earned a pension after more than 20 years on the job, but now he’s concerned that the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic will threaten the monthly checks he’s been counting on to fund his retirement.
Where to Check Up on the Health of Your Pension Plan
I will be eligible for a pension when I retire, but the markets and the Covid-19 outbreak have me worried about the health of my retirement plan. How can I figure out where my pension stands? A lot of help is available. But rules governing how employees are kept informed about their plans are changing, […]
Pandemic Puts More Stress On Struggling Pension System
The coronavirus outbreak has presented daunting challenges for an already-struggling multiemployer pension plan system.
Supreme Court strips workers of their right to sue for pension plan mismanagement
In a 5-4 decision issued on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that pension plan participants have no right to sue the people running their plans for fund mismanagement. The Court’s majority opinion in Thole v. U.S. Bank holds that since most people participating in a traditional pension plan will receive their promised benefits regardless […]
PRC News, June 3, 2020
Both our policy and legal teams have been super busy during the COVID-19 emergency. Our legal program has been hard at work answering your questions and helping people get the benefits they have earned. Our policy team has been working to ensure that new legislative and regulatory proposals protect rather than undercut your rights. Here’s […]
New government “hide and seek” rule tells workers to hunt for retirement information on websites
In the midst of an economic collapse and at a time of heightened financial insecurity, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued a regulation that tells workers and retirees that to find information about their retirement rights they will have to hunt for it on a website. No longer will people automatically receive yearly statements […]
On Saving Pensions, One Step to Go, On Composites and GROW, We Say No!
By Karen Friedman PRC is thrilled that on May 15, as part of the latest COVID-19 relief bill (known as the HEROES Act), the House of Representatives passed the well-crafted Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA) to shore-up underfunded multiemployer pension plans. We urge the Senate to ensure that EPPRA’s provisions are retained in any […]
House relief act comes with multiemployer changes – and controversy
The House narrowly approved another coronavirus relief legislative package late Friday that includes major changes for multiemployer pension plans, but with far less bipartisan support than previous measures.
PRC and National Women’s Law Center comments on Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board rule allowing withdrawal from TSPs without spousal consent (May 18, 2020)
The Pension Rights Center and the National Women’s Law Center submitted comments to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board expressing concerns on an Interim Rule allowing federal retirees to withdraw their Thrift Savings Plan money without notarized spousal consent during the COVID-19 emergency. Read the comments here.
America needs pension relief in HEROES Act — NOT the GROW Act
With the House of Representatives poised to vote on the next COVID-19 relief package, known as the HEROES Act, the Pension Rights Center applauds the congressional leaders who have included within the massive bill the important provisions of the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA) which will strengthen the nation’s multiemployer pension system. PRC, however, […]
