Speech by Karen Friedman to the Texas Municipal Retirement System (November 19, 2013)
On November 19, 2013, PRC’s Karen Friedman delivered the keynote speech at the Texas Municipal Retirement System’s annual meeting in Austin, TX. Below are her remarks. Hello, I’m Karen Friedman, the Executive Vice President and Policy Director of the Pension Rights Center. Before I begin today, I wanted to tell you that, in anticipation […]
When your pension sponsor talks ‘de-risking’ – watch out
A growing number of employers are making plans to “de-risk” their pension plans. That’s jargon for reducing the financial risk posed to corporate balance sheets by pension plans – but if you have a defined-benefit pension and you start hearing that term tossed around, pay careful attention. Less risk for employers can mean more risk […]
PRC response to an RFI on the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (November 15, 2013)
The Center submitted comments [PDF] to the California State Treasurer in response to a Request for Information on the state’s new California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program. Related: PRC Letter to the Editor in the Sacramento Bee, supporting the California Secure Choice plan (03/23/2013 — scroll down to the 7th letter) Article: A crucial step […]
Retired union workers facing ‘unprecedented’ pension cuts
Hundreds of thousands of retired union workers are facing pension cuts that could slash their monthly payments in half — or even more.
What to do if your pension is frozen
If you are among the few who still have a traditional defined-benefit pension plan we wish you luck. In the coming months your employer—as part of an effort to “de-risk” the plan—is likely going to offer you a lump-sum payout, an annuity, or freeze the plan.
Pilfering Your Pension [audio]
PRC Executive Vice President and Policy Director Karen Friedman appeared on the Heartland Labor Forum to discuss the retirement income crisis and the threat of unprecedented cuts to earned pension benefits. Segment begins at approximately 35:00 in the program.
Corporate pension execs wary of derisking fallout
Corporate executives are bracing for regulatory judgment calls on how they handle derisking through lump-sum payments and annuity purchases, lobbyists say.
ERISA at 40 – The past puts pension law in perspective
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), the law governing private retirement plans, has changed quite a bit since it was signed into law in 1974. There have been numerous amendments, court cases, regulatory actions and other developments. ERISA has had such an impact on Americans’ everyday lives that it has become a field of […]
Pension Camelot?
A member of one of America’s most prominent families is taking on a crucial public policy issue: retirement. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, has joined the board of the Washington-based Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit that advocates for pension security.
Pension rights group objects to cutting retiree benefits
The Pension Rights Center agrees that many multiemployer pension plans are in financial distress right now, and that reforms are needed, but it told a House committee this week that it doesn’t agree with the idea of cutting existing benefits to retirees.
Union and retiree pressure mounting against multiemployer pension fund reform
At a hearing held Tuesday by the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions to consider possible legislation, members of the Retirement Security Review Commission discussed their reform proposals, which would allow for reduced benefits for future and possibly current retirees in the most troubled pension funds.
Pension Rights Center Stands with Pensioners against Proposed Cuts
WASHINGTON – The Pension Rights Center released a statement today cautioning Congress against supporting a proposal that “endorses the unprecedented and dangerous step of empowering pension plan trustees … to slash benefits of men and women who are already in retirement and have no opportunity to replace lost benefits.” The statement, distributed at a hearing […]
