Today marks the 44th anniversary of the Older Americans Act, a federal grant program that helps millions of older adults throughout the country. One of the programs funded by the Older Americans Act is the Administration on Aging’s Pension Counseling and Information Program, which supports regional pension counseling projects around the country. These nonprofit counseling projects provide free legal assistance to individuals who have questions about their pensions and retirement savings plans. Since their inception, the projects have recovered more than $75 million on behalf of their clients, representing a return of 5-to-1 for every federal dollar invested in the program.
The Pension Rights Center supports the work of the pension counseling projects through the National Pension Assistance Resource Center (NPARC). NPARC provides legal training, technical assistance, and programmatic support to all the counseling projects.
Currently there are six regional pension counseling projects serving 27 states. Individuals whose situations fall outside the jurisdiction of these pension counseling projects can find resources to assist with their retirement income problems through PensionHelp America, an innovative web site located at www.pensionhelp.org. PensionHelp America is another of the many important services that the Older Americans Act has made possible.