The United States, on the verge of a retirement crisis
“For retirement, the answer is 4-0-1-k,” proclaimed Tyler Mathisen, then editor of Money magazine in 1996. “I feel sure that someday, like a financial Little-Engine-That-Could, it will pull me over the million-dollar mountain all by itself.” For this sentiment, and others like it, Mathisen was soon rewarded with an on-air position at financial news network […]
Brokers Fight Rule to Favor Best Interests of Customers
David O’Brien, a certified financial planner, has tried to repair the retirement portfolios of several victims over the years. There was the high school science teacher who didn’t realize she had been sold a variable annuity, where layers of incomprehensible fees devoured nearly 2.5 percent of her retirement savings each year. Then there was the […]
Breaking Pension Promises is No Solution at All
Complexity is to be expected when discussing an issue like pensions. So for the moment let’s make things simple: 150 to 200 multiemployer plans are severely underfunded and may run out of money in 15 to 20 years if no action is taken. There are approximately 1.5 million workers and retirees in these plans. To […]
PRC Letter to the Department of Labor on Its Spring 2014 Regulatory Agenda (June 10, 2014)
The Pension Rights Center sent a letter to the Labor Department’s Employee Benefit Security Agency (EBSA), expressing concern over pension issues that are missing from EBSA’s Spring 2014 Regulatory Agenda. The letter highlights four areas that need improvement to better protect the pension rights of workers and retirees: Updating claims and appeals procedures for pension […]
Should union pensions be cut?
Congress is expected soon to consider the recommendations of a coalition of unions, pension administrators and employers supporting tough measures to save its pensions. The National Coordinating Committee on Multiemployer Plans, or NCCMP, offers several solutions to the problem of pension underfunding in its report, “Solutions not bailouts.” One of its solutions calls for drastic […]
The Great Pension Sell-Off: Should you take a lump sum or an insurer’s annuity?
Carl Monheit’s former employer reliably mailed his monthly check to him for 17 years. A year and a half ago things changed. The Hackensack, New Jersey, resident, along with thousands of other retired managers, learned he would no longer be part of Verizon’s pension plan. Instead, the telecommunications giant bought them an annuity. While payments […]
How to Fix the 401(k): Five Suggestions for Giving Workers a More-Secure Retirement
The 401(k) is in need of a tuneup. Originally designed to supplement pension plans, 401(k)s have become the primary retirement-savings vehicle for many employees. But critics say the plans are plagued by a variety of ills, including high fees that can eat into investment returns, as well as certain advisers who may not have a […]
Your Company Just Tossed a Pension Hot Potato in Your Lap. What Do You Do?
If you’re lucky enough to have a claim on the $3 trillion-plus sitting in old-fashioned corporate pension plans, your retirement planning may soon get more complicated.
Keep an Eye on Finances During a Divorce
Divorce at any age will send tremors through your finances. But when it comes later in life, it’s sure to upend even the best-laid financial plans.
ERISA Anti-Cutback Rule at Heart of Debate On NCCMP Proposal for Multiemployer Plans
There is one thing representatives for multiemployer pension plans can agree on: The system needs to be strengthened if it is going to survive. But there is some disagreement about how to get there, and one aspect of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans’ proposal—revising the anti-cutback rule under the Employee Retirement Income Security […]
How to read your pension plan’s annual funding notices
If you’re a participant in a pension plan, you’ve probably received or will soon receive what’s called the plan’s “annual funding notice.”
