Pension News

For the past several months, the PRC has been maintaining a list of companies that have reduced or stopped matches to their 401(k) plans.  When the economy takes a turn for the worse as it has in the past year, companies view cutting 401(k) matches as an easy way to reduce costs.  Recently, Business Management Daily published an article for employers on how to break the news to employees and how to encourage employees to continue saving despite the loss of the match.  (more…)

With Mother’s Day approaching, it seems only fitting that I put in a plug for the current edition of Mother Jones magazine. Its cover asks, “Who Ran Away With Your 401(k)?” and the issue is required reading for anyone interested in the future of retirement income.   (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…)

When I was head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (the Department of Labor agency charged with protecting pensions) during the Clinton administration, I became concerned about whether or not people who had 401(k) plans truly understood how much they were paying in fees and what those fees were for. So in 1997 and 1998, we held hearings and issued a report [PDF] on the issue.

A couple of months ago, I decided to take another look at the 1998 report to see what had changed in the last 10 years. (more…)