Recordkeeping today is not your grandfather’s recordkeeping. Maybe not even your older sibling’s. So guidance and education from the Department of Labor (DOL) would be helpful in adjusting to the changes that have taken place, concludes a recently released report. The post ASPPA: Recordkeeping in the Electronic Age appeared first on Pension Rights Center ..read more

Annuity-only providers such as Athene may be uniquely prone to risks, because they lack the asset diversification individual life insurers enjoy, said Norman Stein, senior policy counsel at the Pension Rights Center, which advocates for the return of more traditional defined-benefit pensions and opposes pension risk transfers. The post Bloomberg Law: Athene-Linked Pension Cases Strike at Need for New DOL Guidance appeared first on Pension Rights Center ..read more

Labor Department guidance requires employers seek out the “safest available annuity,” Norman Stein, senior policy counsel for the Pension Rights Center, said. That standard may not be satisfied if employers opt to work with an insurance company facing significant criticism instead of one that’s universally respected, he said. The post Bloomberg Law: AT&T, Lockheed Suits Mark First Real Test for Pension Transfers appeared first on Pension Rights Center ..read more

Cathy Green has never paid much attention to what goes on in Congress. But when she learned that a federal law would allow her pension to be cut by as much as 30 percent, she became alarmed. The post NYT: Retirees’ Pensions Were Restored. Debate About It Hasn’t Died. appeared first on Pension Rights Center ..read more

If the lawsuits progress, there’s a lot that observers might learn about how companies solicit and evaluate bids, said Norman Stein, senior policy counsel and acting legal director at the Pension Rights Center. The post InvestmentNews: Companies transferred billions in pension assets to annuities. Here come the lawsuits appeared first on Pension Rights Center ..read more

The Pension Rights Center weighed in last week with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, stating that both short-term incremental and long-term bold solutions must be considered and implemented if we are to help millions of Americans avoid the hardship of a financially calamitous retirement.     Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) convened a February 28 hearing, titled “Taking a Serious Look at the Retirement Crisis in America: What Can We Do to Expand Defined Benefit Plans for Workers,” citing a need for “immediate attention” to this crisis. &n ..read more

“Participants who withdraw plan funds to cover non-retirement expenses,” notes the Pension Rights Center, “no matter how justified, are shortchanging their future. Every dollar withdrawn will no longer be in the account where it can grow tax deferred. That lost principle, combined with the loss of potential interest and investment gains over what could be years or decades, won’t be there for them when they need it in retirement. Some who withdraw assets could see their account balances reduced by thousands of dollars, tens of thousands or even more.” The post Forbes: One Easy Way To Boost Your ..read more

The Save our Retirement Coalition — made up of nine organizations, including AARP, AFL-CIO, Better Markets and Pension Rights Center — specifically asked that Congress reject any appropriations riders aimed at prohibiting the use of funds for finalizing, implementing or enforcing the Labor Department’s proposed rule in a letter dated Feb. 15, sent to Senate and House leadership, as well as Appropriations Committee leaders. The post Pensions & Investments: Congress should reject attempts to block fiduciary rule using spending bills – coalition appeared first on Pension Rights Center ..read more

The Pension Rights Center submitted a statement today from its Executive Director Karen Friedman telling the Senate, Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee that “too many Americans are and will be facing an inadequately funded retirement with all the hardships that entails.” PRC, a nonpartisan, consumer organization that works to protect and promote the retirement rights of workers, retirees and their families, submitted the statement for the committee’s February 28 hearing titled “Taking a Serious Look at the Retirement Crisis in America: What Can We Do to Expand Defined Benefit Plans ..read more

By Jane Smith  There is a new resource for the many people who are entitled to retirement plan benefits but can’t locate their former employer to claim those benefits.   Those searching for benefits can start by checking out the “Find Unclaimed Retirement Benefits” search tool on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) website. This tool has a searchable database of “missing participants” that includes people who could not be located when an employer terminated a private-sector plan. It also includes recommended steps to take to find lost benefits. The “missing partici ..read more