Archives: Resources
Saver’s Credit At-A-Glance: How the Saver’s Tax Credit Can Boost Your Retirement Savings
The average retirement benefit from Social Security may not be enough to pay for your expenses during retirement. The federal government encourages low-income earners to save for retirement through a tax credit called the Saver’s Credit. It is a non-refundable tax credit for individuals who make under $31,000 or married couples who make under $62,000 […]
Comments to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Pension Advance Loans (October 13, 2016)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a Request for Information on financial products that present consumer protection issues but are not included in the Bureau’s proposed rule on payday loans. The Pension Rights Center submitted comments on pension advances, a type of loan designed to skirt federal and state laws on disclosure and interest rates. […]
Problems with ESOPs
An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a retirement plan in which investments are made primarily in the employer’s stock. The value of an ESOP account can grow in two ways – if the value of the stock increases or if additional shares are allocated to the participant’s account. Conversely, an ESOP account’s value will shrink […]
The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2018
The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act, sponsored by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Steve Daines (R-MT), was reintroduced on February 28, 2018 as S. 2474. The original version of the bill was introduced in 2016 (as S.3078) The new version of the bill adds language that would limit searches by ongoing pension plans for retirees […]
Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Are They Worth the Risks?
In good financial times, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) have the appearance of being an excellent deal for employees, because ESOPs offer partial ownership over the company that employs them. However, ESOPs pose serious risks that employees may not recognize until it’s too late. This paper describes how ESOP participants do not face just a single risk, […]
Resources for Participants in Multiemployer Pension Plans in “Critical and Declining” Status
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) allows severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans that are in “critical and declining” status to seek Treasury Department approval to cut pension benefits. Retirees worried about future pension cuts have asked us what they can do to protect their pensions. This fact sheet suggests steps they can take […]
Voices of People Facing MPRA Pension Cuts
The following stories have been collected as part of the Pension Rights Center story bank. Rita Lewis Westchester, Ohio | Age 64 Rita is the widow of Butch Lewis, a decorated Vietnam Veteran, who had driven a semi tractor trailer for 40 years while undergoing 37 surgeries to repair his knee that was injured in […]
Proposed regulations on the recovery of pension plan overpayments (July 2015)
The Pension Rights Center submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on procedures for the recoupment (recovery) of overpayments made to participants. Overpayments occur for several reasons, often due to plan errors in calculating benefit amounts. Retirees are usually unaware that their benefit amounts have been calculated incorrectly and are surprised when they receive a […]
Plans that have filed “critical and declining” status notices with the U.S. Department of Labor
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 gives the trustees of underfunded multiemployer plans that meet the definition of being in “critical and declining” status almost unprecedented authority to cut retiree pension benefits. Each plan listed below has notified the U.S. Department of Labor that it is in “critical and declining” status and eligible to […]
Pension plans that have applied to cut benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) gives the trustees of certain underfunded multiemployer plans that meet the definition of being in “critical and declining” status almost unprecedented authority to cut retiree pension benefits. The law requires, however, that before an eligible plan cuts benefits, it must first file an application with the U.S. […]
Proposed regulations on state-based retirement plans for private-sector workers (January 2016)
The Pension Rights Center submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed regulations that would allow the creation of certain state-legislated retirement savings plans that would be exempt from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The Center notes that “uncertainty about the effects and impacts of ERISA coverage, preemption, and regulatory […]
Pundt v Verizon
The Pension Rights Center filed an amicus brief supporting Verizon employees who are asking the Supreme Court to reverse a Court of Appeals ruling that individuals whose future pensions have been placed at risk by the actions of plan trustees do not have the right to file a lawsuit since they have not yet been harmed by […]
