Resource Type: Fact Sheets and Issue Papers
SSA Potential Private Retirement Benefit Information Notices
What’s an SSA PPRBI notice? The Social Security Administration (SSA) might send you a Potential Private Retirement Benefit Information (PPRBI) notice after you apply for social security benefits. This notice is a reminder that you might be eligible for retirement benefits from a private employer. These notices include the names of the retirement plans; the […]
Retirement Plan Information and Disclosures
Your Retirement Plan Information and Disclosures What They Are, Who Gets Them, and Why to Pay Attention to Them What Plan Information and Disclosures Must Be Provided Federal law requires that company retirement plans provide certain documents, notices, statements, and other information to plan participants, beneficiaries, and alternate payees. We previously outlined the most important […]
Protecting Your Retirement Account Against Cybersecurity Threats
Computer hacking, data breaches, cybercrime, financial scams – cybersecurity risks are everywhere, and your retirement account could be a target. Be vigilant about keeping your personal information secure and confidential to reduce the risk of identity theft. You can reduce the cybersecurity risk of fraud or loss to your retirement account by taking these precautions: […]
What You Need to Know about Auto Enrollment
New Auto-Enrollment Plans If you’re an employee of a company that first established a retirement plan at the end of 2022, chances are you’re covered by that retirement plan as result of auto enrollment. The law now says that if a business with at least 10 employees started up a 401(k) or 403(b) plan on […]
Pension Benefit Overpayments – What is Recoupment?
Overview I received a letter from my pension plan stating that it has been overpaying me. The letter says that the plan is going to reduce my monthly payments and that I will also have to pay an additional amount to the plan. What can I do? Believe it or not, sometimes pension plans make […]
Tips for Keeping Track of Your Pension: Additional Detail
This page is a supplement to the Keeping Track of Your Pensions fact sheet. Keep Records Pension plans have a duty under the law to maintain records about the pension plan and the individuals entitled to benefits from the plan. Workers should keep back-up records of their own in case there are mistakes in the […]
Tips for Keeping Track of Your Pension
Each year, the Pension Rights Center gets calls and e-mails from retirees asking for help. Many are seeking a pension plan that was “lost” because their former company moved or merged. We also hear from workers who need help proving that they worked long enough to qualify for benefits. Other people come to us because their pension […]
How Retirement Plans Can Fix Contribution Mistakes
Employers sometimes make mistakes when they put money into a 401(k), profit sharing plan or other defined contribution plan. If they correct the mistake by making a contribution to the plan, the contribution is called a QNEC or Qualified Non-Elective Employer Contribution. Here are some examples of a QNEC (pronounced cue-neck). Companies sometimes fail to […]
Common Questions about the Butch Lewis Act
1. What is the Butch Lewis Act? The Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act is legislation to help severely financially troubled multiemployer plans meet their benefit obligations to retired participants. It was included as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which President Biden signed into law on March 11, 2021. 2. […]
What the Butch Lewis Act Will and Will Not Do
On March 11, 2021, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, President Biden signed the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Relief Act into law. The law will preserve and restore the pensions of more than one million retirees and workers in an estimated 200-225 severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans.[i] It is the result of many years […]
Understanding Survivor Benefits in Private Retirement Plans
For married participants in retirement plans, a top concern is making sure that a spouse will receive their retirement benefits if they die. Luckily, most pension plans and many other retirement plans in the United States provide a survivor benefit to widowed spouses of retirement plan participants. In some cases, a survivor benefit can also be left […]
The Labor Department’s Notice-and-Access Disclosure Rule: The Basics
The Labor Department has issued a new rule for electronic delivery of plan disclosures to retirement plan participants, called “notice-and-access.”[1] The rule is effective July 27, 2020.[2] The new rule replaces prior guidance on electronic delivery of disclosures to participants, with the exception of a 2002 electronic disclosure rule.[3] The 2002 electronic disclosure rule remains […]
