Resource Type: Fact Sheets and Issue Papers
The facts about pension advances
This fact sheet describes pension advances, financial transactions in which a company gives a retiree a lump-sum cash payment in return for some or all of the retiree’s monthly pension payments for a specified period of time. Pension advances can have extremely high interest rates and threaten the economic security of the retirees who receive […]
Status of Church Plan Litigation
Below is a summary of current and recent church plan cases. Case . Ruling/Status Result Chavies v. Catholic Health East District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jurisdiction: 3rd Circuit Year filed: 2013 District court denied Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. The court ordered discovery on whether the sponsor there at issue, a large […]
Companies That Have Changed Their Defined Benefit Pension Plans
Below is a list of employers that have announced significant changes to their defined benefit pension plans since December 2005. Changes include plan terminations, plan freezes for new and/or current employees, and changes to the formula by which pension benefits are calculated. For specifics, click on the employer’s name to see the company’s press release, […]
Companies that have transferred pensions to insurance companies
Below is a list of employers that have transferred their pension obligations for certain retirees and former employees to insurance companies by purchasing annuities. (Note: this is not a comprehensive list. These are only the changes that we are aware of, based on corporate press releases, news reports, and other sources.) This practice differs from […]
Companies that are offering lump-sum pension buyouts
Note: This list is updated on an ongoing basis. Below is a list of employers that have announced that they are offering lump-sum pension buyouts to certain groups of employees, former employees, or retirees. For specifics, click on the employer’s name to see the company’s press release, SEC filing, or news story announcing the change […]
What happens when a pension is transferred to an insurance company?
In 2012, General Motors and Verizon entered into arrangements with Prudential Insurance Company to pay the pensions of certain groups of their salaried retirees. Both companies transferred pension assets to Prudential, which meant that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that insures most private pension plans, no longer insured the pensions. Since then, […]
Should you take your pension as a lump sum?
Updated: August 2015 Some companies have offered to cash out the pensions of certain retirees and former employees and instead give them a one-time lump-sum payment. While the idea of suddenly having a large sum of money is tempting, this is a decision that you will have to live with for the rest of your life. […]
Multiemployer pension plans projected to be in “critical and declining” status
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 allows the trustees of certain multiemployer pension plans to reduce pensions, including the benefits of retirees. Read a summary of the cutback provisions of the law here. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has compiled a list of 100 plans that may be permitted to cut benefits […]
How the Keep Our Pension Promises Act Would Save the Central States Pension Fund
The Keep Our Pension Promises Act would make it possible for the largest of the severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans, the Central States Pension Fund (CSPF), to continue to pay promised benefits to its 205,000 retirees. This is because money that would be transferred by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to the plan each […]
Why the Keep Our Pension Promises Act Must Be Passed
Updated: September 9, 2015 On June 18, 2015, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) introduced the Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015 into the U.S. Congress to stop benefit cutbacks for retirees in certain underfunded multiemployer plans. These cuts were authorized by the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. In the Senate, […]
Investment Advisers: Who Are They and Why Does It Matter?
The universe of financial advisers can be very confusing. People who give financial advice use many different labels, including investment adviser investment manager asset manager broker financial planner financial consultant financial adviser certified financial planner With such a variety of titles, it can be difficult to know which legal standards – if any – apply […]
Cash Balance Plans
A cash balance plan is a pension plan that has certain features of a 401(k) plan. A number of companies have converted their traditional pension plans into cash balance plans. This fact sheet describes cash balance plans and outlines the differences between a cash balance plan and a traditional pension plan, and between a cash […]
