prc in the news

2008 Articles

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Skeptical Lawmakers To Discuss Easing Pension Rules With Cos

Dow Jones via SmartMoney.com – December 2, 2008
A handful of companies plan to meet Tuesday with the lawmakers, regulators and the U.S. pension insurer agency. They plan to ask for modifying pension funding requirements that could force cash-strapped businesses to inject millions into pension plans amid the financial crisis.

Your retirement

Consumer Reports – December 2008 issue
Is my pension safe?

The Economy and Pensions

The Diane Rehm Show – November 24, 2008
Diane and her guests discuss what the financial crisis means for retirement accounts, including pressures on employers, workers, and retirees.

After Losses, Pensions Ask For a Change

New York Times – November 20, 2008
Stung by outsize investment losses, some of the nation’s biggest companies are pushing Congress to roll back rules requiring them to put more money into their pension funds, just two years after President Bush signed a law meant to strengthen the pension system.

Center urges Congress to protect DB participants

Pensions & Investments – November 17, 2008
The Pension Rights Center wants Congress to change federal pension laws to protect participants in single-employer defined benefit plans in response to asset declines caused by the financial crisis.

What Happens if Your Employer Goes Broke

Kiplinger.com – November 17, 2008
What will happen to my health insurance and retirement plans if my employer files for bankruptcy?

Help wanted sign is out for top jobs

Pensions & Investments – November 10, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama — who ran on the promise of change — looks to be living up to his word, based on the potential appointees to top pension and investment policy positions in his incoming administration.

How will Obama tax plans work in this economy?

San Francisco Chronicle – November 6, 2008
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama proposed more than a dozen tax changes that would affect individuals.

Delay pension even in face of a bankruptcy

Chicago Tribune – November 2, 2008
Financial advice columnist answers a reader's question about taking a pension early.

Boomer fears rise as market falls

Chicago Tribune – November 1, 2008
Many older people who have watched in horror as the carnage on Wall Street has shrunk their nest eggs. Even before the crisis, one in five older Americans had been putting off retirement. Now that figure is undoubtedly higher.

401(k) losses: Older investors' retirement funds hit hard

USA Today – October 31, 2008
Older Americans are watching their retirement savings evaporate as the economy slumps and the stock market falters.

Down market squeezes pensions

Boston Globe – October 26, 2008
Some employers drop their plans; Others forced to pump in cash

American Dream is still alive, it's just getting harder for the middle class to achieve it

Press of Atlantic City – October 26, 2008
The financial challenges today are serious: How will I send my child to college? Or pay off my medical expenses? Or retire debt-free? Simply put, costs of food, fuel and other parts of the household budget are soaring, while incomes are staying grounded.

Working Longer as Jobs Contract

New York Times – October 23, 2008
In these extraordinarily turbulent times, with the stock market declining sharply and millions of 401(k) plans plunging in value, many workers are suddenly facing a starker situation — they worry that they might have to work 5, 7, even 10 years later than planned, perhaps well into their 70s.

Pension Plans Hit by Market Mess

CNBC – October 21, 2008
PRC Policy Director Karen Friedman is interviewed on CNBC about the stock market meltdown and retirement income.

Can my pension be reduced?

Money – October 21, 2008
Financial advice columnist answers a reader's question about her pension. The hyperlink in the second to last paragraph links to PRC's Help page.

Social Security recipients to get a raise in 2009

USA Today – October 17, 2008
More than 50 million seniors will see their Social Security benefits increase 5.8% next year, the biggest cost-of-living increase in more than 25 years, the Social Security Administration said Thursday.

Shut out of buyouts: Treasury slam the door on pension transfers to private firms

Employee Benefit News – October 1, 2008
For now, federal regulators at the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have shot down a proposal that would allow financial institutions and investment firms to acquire frozen defined benefit plans. Some critics are wary of the risk involved in the transfer of a frozen plan's assets.

DoL’s Campbell Wants Senators To Let DoL Do Rulemaking

Plan Adviser – September 17, 2008
A federal regulator on Wednesday urged U.S. Senate lawmakers not to interfere with the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DoL) regulatory scheme for retirement plan fees through additional legislation.

Labor Dept. opens advice window

Pensions & Investments – September 1, 2008
Agency proposes allowing investment companies to offer participant guidance.

Pension ruling a partial win for both sides

Los Angeles Times – August 21, 2008
An appeals court says cash-balance plans are legal, but companies must give employees adequate warning before a conversion.

Planning for Retirement

New York Times – August 21, 2008
Letter to the editor from the Pension Rights Center, responding to an Aug. 15 editorial about 401(k) leakage.

IRS slams door on pension transfers

Business Insurance – August 11, 2008
An Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department ruling last week will stymie for now any effort by defined benefit pension plan sponsors to transfer their frozen plans to financial services firms, say observers.

Now Wall Street Wants Your Pension, Too

Businessweek – August 5, 2008
The folks who brought you the mortgage mess and the ensuing hedge fund blowups, busted buyouts, and credit market gridlock have another bold idea: buying up and running troubled corporate pension plans.

401(k) plans used to avoid foreclosure

Global Pensions – August 4, 2008
An amendment to legislation which would waiver the 10% early withdrawal penalty for US homeowners who use retirement savings to avoid foreclosure will still be pursued.

Labor, SEC Join to Streamline Retirement-Fund Protection

Washington Post – July 30, 2008
The Labor Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed yesterday to step up their cooperation in protecting $5.8 trillion in 401(k) plans and other retirement assets held by American workers, retirees and their families in employee benefit plans.

10 ways to spot 401(k) abuse

Bankrate.com – July 29, 2008
In 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, or EBSA, the agency charged with enforcing 401(k) regulations, investigated more than 1,326 cases of 401(k) mismanagement or malfeasance, resulting in more than $51 million in restitution and penalties.

Fee-Disclosure Proposal Scrutinized

Human Resource Executive Online – July 25, 2008
Most observers were pleased with the proposed fee-disclosure regulation issued by the DOL, which could take effect for the 2009 plan year. It requires both quarterly and annual disclosures, as well as information on investment performance. Critics say the proposal does not go far enough.

Cracking Into Your Nest Egg Early [blog entry]

U.S. News & World Report – July 24, 2008
Most people who diligently tuck money into a 401(k) know that those dollars are intended for retirement. But many 401(k)'s have provisions that allow workers to take loans when necessary. And economically squeezed workers are increasingly raiding their retirement plans to make ends meet.

About half of pension sponsors have frozen plans

Associated Press via Yahoo! News – July 22, 2008
About half of employers with defined-benefit pension plans have frozen one or more of those plans, putting the retirement incomes of millions at risk, according to a government report made public Tuesday.

Raiding the Retirement Stash

Washington Post – July 20, 2008
Would you still put money in a tax-advantaged retirement fund if you couldn't touch it until you retired?

Is your employer doing the '401k float'?

Marketplace Money (NPR) – July 18, 2008
Some Americans are giving their employers an interest-free loan, whether they know it or not. [Click on the "Listen to this story" link on the program's web page to hear the audio.]

In down economy, less upside to DC plans

Financial Week – June 23, 2008
Pensions may be seen as a mill-stone around the corporate neck, but for some companies, these relics of business largesse might actually provide labor management flexibility that their defined-contribution cousins can't match.

Bickering puts pension fixit bill in slow lane

Pensions & Investments – June 10, 2008
Key funding rule change at stake in legislation aimed to fix pension law problems.

Tracking those moving pensions

St. Petersburg Times – May 11, 2008
It's not unusual for workers to become separated from their pensions.

Supreme Court sends investors mixed message

Northeastern Pennsylvania Business Journal – May 5, 2008
A recent ruling defining the rights of 401(k) holders could shape future cases about the responsibility of portfolio managers to protect clients' investments.

Take steps to protect your retirement income

Consumer Reports – April 2008
Don’t be caught off guard by changes to your pension that might result in less income in retirement. Here are a few steps you can take to help smooth out any unpleasant bumps in the road ahead.

Make Sure Your Employer Isn't Misusing 401(k) Money

TheStreet.com – March 20, 2008
If you don't pay attention to your employer's treatment of your 401(k) plan, you might want to start.

Pension help may be available to Floridians [scroll to the bottom]

Florida Today – March 13, 2008
Letter to the Editor from John Hotz, deputy director of the Pension Rights Center.

Pension plans becoming more open

Syndicated column via the Columbus (OH) Dispatch – March 11, 2008
If you're among the Americans who still have a defined benefit pension, 2008 is a good year to pay close attention. New federal rules could affect your benefits.

If company mishandles your 401(k), you can sue

Dallas Morning News – March 3, 2008
A recent landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court could lead workers to believe that they have a potent legal weapon against their employer if their 401(k) loses money.

Employers now responsible for 401(k) mismanagement

Colorado Springs Business Journal – February 29, 2008
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling this month is expected to give employees a greater chance at recovering retirement money lost from a mismanaged 401(k) — and send a warning to business owners.

Pension plan didn’t pan out for Cocoa worker

Florida Today – February 27, 2008
The Pension Rights Center works in the big scope of things to protect and promote the retirement security of America’s workforce.

Quick! Plug Those Holes

Newsweek – February 23, 2008
Individual workers can sue their bosses for mismanaging their 401(k) plans, the Supreme Court said last week.

Ruling Allows Employees to Sue 401(k) Providers

SmartMoney.com – February 21, 2008
Thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday you can now sue your 401(k) plan sponsor if you've experienced a loss due to an administrative error or mismanagement of your funds.

Dark Victory for 401(k)

Condé Nast Portfolio – February 21, 2008
Top court says participants can sue, but chief justice leaves an out for companies.

Ruling Allows Workers to Sue On 401(k) Losses

Wall Street Journal via Yahoo! Finance – February 20, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right of workers to sue over losses in their 401(k) retirement-savings accounts in some circumstances, but pension-law experts said a minority opinion in the case could also bolster some defenses used by employers.

Pensions by the numbers

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) – February 10, 2008
This is a sidebar to the main article, "What's your pension plan?"

Trying to Clear Fog From Pension Plans

New York Times – February 3, 2008
New pension rules being phased in this year may make some employees curious about the financial health of their pension plans — but it’s still hard to get enough information to make an intelligent judgment.

Profile of the Pension Rights Center

NABET News – January/February 2008 issue
The Center is profiled in this publication for members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians and the Broadcasting and Cable Television Workers' Sector of the Communications Workers of America.

IBM pension freeze has ripple effects in retirement system

Journal News (White Plains, NY) – January 6, 2008
This month might just mark the moment when workers in America finally accept the idea that pensions are on their way out.