PENSION RIGHTS CENTER SUBMITS A CONSUMER AGENDA FOR RETIREMENT SECURITY TO OBAMA TRANSITION TEAM

PENSION RIGHTS CENTER SUBMITS A CONSUMER AGENDA FOR RETIREMENT SECURITY TO OBAMA TRANSITION TEAM

WASHINGTON – In advance of President-elect Obama taking office, the Pension Rights Center has created a Consumer Agenda for Retirement Security, a list of recommendations for improving current retirement programs.  The Agenda, which has been submitted to the Obama transition team, includes 40 distinct legislative and regulatory actions.  These actions affect both the traditional pension system and 401(k)-type plans, private employer plans and public plans.

“This Agenda should be seen as a roadmap for retirement policy for the next four years,” said Karen Ferguson, director of the Pension Rights Center.  “These recommendations not only fix problems in current programs, but also lay the groundwork for a new, more equitable, universal, secure, and adequate system for the future.  Given the retirement landscape today – with companies dropping their traditional pension plans and 401(k) account balances falling, what better time for a new president and a new Congress to take on comprehensive reform?”

The Agenda is organized into five broad initiatives, each of which is comprised of specific actions that can be taken:

• Initiative 1 — Promote a more adequate and secure private retirement income system.
  • Actions include establishing a cabinet-level committee or presidential commission to explore options for a new private retirement income system for the next generation of workers, and authorizing new plan designs that will appeal to both employers and employees.

• Initiative 2 — Empower workers to promote their own retirement security.
  • Actions include leveling the playing field in administrative and court proceedings for individuals seeking to obtain their earned benefits, and expanding the Administration on Aging’s Pension Counseling and Information Program.

• Initiative 3 — Improve retirement savings plans.
  • Actions include requiring straightforward disclosure of all fees paid by 401(k) plan participants and requiring timely distribution of benefits from 401(k) plans.

• Initiative 4 — Improve traditional and hybrid pension plans.
  • Actions include protecting earned pension benefits when companies are bought and sold, and linking executive and rank-and-file employee retirement benefits.

• Initiative 5 — Make retirement plans fairer for workers and their spouses.
  • Actions include requiring 100 percent coverage of all employees in a single line of business and ensuring that workers can rely on written benefit statements.

“We look forward to working with the Obama administration and the 111th Congress to make these recommendations a reality,” said Ferguson.

To see the Consumer Agenda for Retirement Security in its entirety, visit www.pensionrights.org/policy/agenda.html.

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Contact Name: Nancy Hwa
202-296-3776