Pension News

A timely and provocative op-ed by BusinessWeek’s contributing economics editor Chris Farrell flatly states, “Keep Wall Street Out of the Retirement Business.”  Farrell goes on to ask:

Question is, in light of the current turmoil in the financial markets, should Wall Street manage any of our long-term retirement savings funds? Is the 401(k) plan, which has become the main retirement savings vehicle for the American worker over the past three decades, a mistake? The case for rethinking the 401(k) as a pillar of retirement savings is compelling. (more…)

What a week.  The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch’s sale to Bank of America, and the government rescue of AIG were just the latest upheavals in this churning Subprime Summer.  I’ve been getting calls every day from reporters, wanting to interview people who are concerned about their 401(k) accounts.

People are right to be concerned.  For many American workers, a 401(k) account will be their only source of retirement income besides Social Security.  While one should expect market fluctuations to affect their account balances, no one likes to see their 401(k) take a nosedive. (more…)

In the past few days, large companies on Wall Street have been closing left and right, making the people who work at these companies jittery about many issues, including their retirement security.

The good news for these employees is that the money in their pension and 401(k) plans is protected from creditors, so that even when a company goes into bankruptcy, they don’t have to worry about their retirement money being used to pay back debts instead. (more…)

Happy 34^th Birthday, ERISA!

Today marks the 34^th anniversary of the date that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, known to those in the field of pensions as ERISA, was signed into law.  In a tribute to the workers who would be helped by the new law, that day, September 2, 1974, fell on Labor Day. (more…)