Get the Facts

The Pension Rights Center has written numerous fact sheets, newsletters, pamphlets and books to promote public awareness of pension issues, and to help workers and retirees understand their pension plans and the laws and regulations that govern them. There are also many publications published by other organizations that provide helpful information about retirement programs.

Statistics (View All)

Why Pensions Are Important

This fact sheet explains the role pensions play in the overall retirement security of American workers, retirees, and their families.

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How many American workers participate in workplace retirement plans?

Annual figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics help paint a picture of the number of Americans who participate in a retirement plan at work. Typically in any year only half of workers participate in a retirement plan at work. In 2017 participation by all civilian workers, full and part-time, was 54 percent. The information below comes from the Bureau of Labor Statist

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How Much Is Saved in 401(k)s

Increasingly, retirement savings plans have become the way American workers accumulate the money they will need to supplement their Social Security payments in retirement.

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Fact Sheets (View All)

Tax Expenditures for Retirement Plans

The tax law recently enacted by Congress includes a great many provisions. Some are easy to understand. Others are not. Among the least understood provisions are those that modify “federal tax expenditures.” This fact sheet explains what tax expenditures are and how they affect retirement plans.

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Resources for Multiemployer Reform

This is a critical time for retirement security. Thousands of retirees and workers in certain underfunded multiemployer plans – Cleveland Iron Workers Local 17, New York State Teamsters and Teamsters Local 707 in New York, among them – have already lost a big share of their hard-earned pensions.

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The Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2017 | Talking Points

The Keep Our Pension Promises Act addresses the crisis created by the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. Use the talking points below when communicating with policymakers, including members of Congress.

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Reports (View All)

Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Are They Worth the Risks?

In good financial times, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) have the appearance of being an excellent deal for employees, because ESOPs offer partial ownership over the company that employs them.

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Laying the Groundwork for More Efficient Retirement Savings Incentives (November 2015)

This report begins by highlighting a few basic reform principles that would make savings incentives more efficient to guide the subsequent recommendations. The report then summarizes the main problems that underlie the inefficiencies of current savings incentives, followed by recommendations to address these problems.

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The Inefficiencies of Existing Retirement Savings Incentives (October 2015)

America’s middle class faces a growing retirement crisis. More than half of all working-age households are expected to be at risk of having to cut back their standard of living—often making painful adjustments—when they retire. There are several reasons for the ever-larger looming crisis, but people’s inability to save enough money is a key obstacle to achieving more retirement security.

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Books (View All)

Longevity Policy: Facing Up to Longevity Issues Affecting Social Security, Pensions, and Older Workers

Turner argues that public policy should recognize longevity policy as a distinct policy area. Rather than separately treating issues raised by life expectancy (e.g., Social Security, pensions, older workers), a unified approach should be developed that recognizes their interrelationship.

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The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974: A Political History

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974: A Political History, by James A. Wooten, 2005.

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Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach (Revised Edition)

Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach (Revised Edition), by Peter A. Diamond and Peter R. Orszag, 2005.

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Looking for help with your retirement plan?

If you have a problem with your retirement plan, free help may be available from the U.S. Administration on Aging's network of Pension Counseling and Information Projects. Find help now.

Share your story

What's your story?

We're hearing from people around the country who are worried about cuts to their pensions. These are their stories.

PensionHelp America connects people who need help with their pension, 401(k), and other retirement plans with the pension counseling projects, legal services providers, and government agencies that can help answer their questions. Visit www.pensionhelp.org.

Roadmap to retirement

Let our roadmap to helpful information about retirement plans for private-sector workers put you on the path toward a secure retirement. Get started.

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In the News

New Efforts to Make Sure Pensions Are Paid

According to the investment management company TIAA, as of 2015, a full 30 percent of employees had abandoned a retirement account from a previous employer. The Government Accountability Office recently reported that from 2004 to 2013, more than 25 million employees left at least one retirement account behind.

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Did You Know?

A lump-sum distribution is a method of paying benefits from a pension plan in which a participant's entire beenfit is paid out in a one-time payment. Lump sum distributions are sometimes called cash outs.