Pension Counseling and Information Program

Do you need help getting your retirement benefit?

The U.S. Administration for Community Living’s Pension Counseling and Information Program currently serves 31 states.

Free legal assistance is available to individuals experiencing a problem with their pension, profit sharing or retirement savings plans. For more detailed information about what the projects do, check out the brochure about the program and watch our video. Contact one of the pension counseling projects below if you, your company, or your pension plan are located within a project’s service area. Assistance is provided free of charge.

Not located within a service area?

You may be able to find help with your questions by visiting PensionHelp America.

Find the Counseling Project that covers your state

Mid-America Pension Rights Project
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee
Toll Free: (866) 735-7737
Michigan Office Website
Ohio Office Website

Mid-Atlantic Pension Counseling Project
New York and New Jersey
Toll Free: (800) 355-7714
New York Office Website

New England &
Illinois Pension Assistance Projects

Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
Toll Free: (888) 425-6067
Massachusetts Office Website

 

South Central Pension Rights Project
Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
Toll Free: (800) 443-2528
Texas Office Website

Trellis Pension and Retirement Rights Project
Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
Toll Free: (866) 783-5021
Minnesota Office Website

Western States Pension Assistance Project
Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada
Toll Free: (866) 413-4911
California Office Website

Still have questions?

About the Pension Counseling and Information Program

The Pension Counseling and Information Program (PCIP) was created by Congress in 1992 and is primarily supported by the U.S. Administration for Community Living.  PCIP is made up of six regional pension counseling projects that provide free legal assistance to individuals who need help with retirement benefits they earned through their employment.  The Pension Rights Center is a resource center for the pension counseling projects.

The pension counseling projects are staffed by attorneys and other legal professionals who help individuals understand their rights to receive retirement benefits, get documents and information from their retirement plans, and challenge benefit denials or incorrect benefit calculations.  The projects help people with questions and problems relating to both private and government retirement plans.

Company and union retirement plans are required to have benefit claims and appeals procedures, and government plans also have review processes. Pension counseling project attorneys draft claim and appeal letters on behalf of their clients.

The pension counseling projects provide services free of charge.  There are no age or income requirements.

The six pension counseling projects together cover thirty states.  You can receive help from a pension counseling project if you live in one of the 30 covered states, your employer is located in one of these states, or your retirement plan is administered in one of the covered states.  The Pension Rights Center can provide referrals and limited assistance to individuals in the 20 states not covered by a pension counseling project.

To get legal help through the Pension Counseling and Information Program, you can click on one of the circles below to learn more about the pension counseling project that covers your state.

“Since 1993 the Pension Counseling and Information Program has recovered over $254 million in retirement benefits and helped more than 60,000 people.”

Counseling Project Success Stories

The stories featured on this page showcase individuals who have been helped by the staff of Pension Counseling and Information Projects. These stories highlight common problems that millions of Americans face, ranging from the very simple to the very complex. The expertise of counseling project staff has enabled the people featured in these stories to obtain the pensions that they have rightfully earned.

For privacy reasons, many of the names and identifying information about the individuals featured in these stories have been changed.

From Zero to Two Pensions – With Help From the New England Pension Assistance Project

David Howell of Connecticut had worked in many different jobs for Stop & Shop from 1964 until 1991.

South Central Pension Rights Project helps widow claim survivor benefit from Monsanto

Naomi Francisco’s husband worked as an engineer for Monsanto for 35 years and began receiving his pension in 1985.

Mid-America Pension Rights Project works with Department of Labor to overturn wrongful benefit denial

Like many people approaching retirement, when Margaret turned 65 she contacted her former employer to apply for the pension she had earned during her career.

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