PRC Calls on Congress to Enhance Retirees’ Financial Security
Pension Rights Center (PRC) Executive Director Karen Friedman testified before the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee during a July 17th hearing entitled “Freedom to Work: Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers.” Friedman told members of the Committee that they must act to address Americans’ justifiable fear of having insufficient resources and income to […]
Retaining Employment Records Can Be Crucial
Everyone Makes Mistakes It’s a fact of life: everyone makes mistakes—including retirement plan administrators. Mistakes are especially likely to occur when employers change recordkeepers or systems of keeping records. Retaining your own records of employment can mean that those mistakes can be corrected. Changes for Federal Workers The recent announcement from the Office of Personnel […]
Next Avenue: Surviving Survivor Benefits
Are you sure your legal documents and financial accounts reflect the wishes of you and your spouse in terms of benefits and who inherits what?
Widow Wins “Benefits” – but From an Unexpected Source
One of the PRC’s favorite slogans is “persistence pays off.” And that strategy sure paid off for 73-year-old Elaine Silverberg who—after fighting for 13 years to get the widow’s benefits she believed she was owed from her late husband’s pension plan—finally received the money. Just not from the pension plan. While her late husband’s pension […]
PRC Welcomes New Additions
Spring is in the air, and consistent with the upcoming season of growth and renewal, the Pension Rights Center is excited to welcome four additions to our team: a new legal director and three new members of our Board of Directors. Theresa (Tess) S. Gee, PRC’s new legal director, has wide-ranging experience with retirement issues […]
DOL Introduces Lost and Found Database
By Jane Smith Looking for your retirement benefits from a former employer? The Department of Labor has developed a searchable online database that may make it easier for former employees to find their earned benefits. The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database is a resource for employees who separated from employment and still have earned retirement […]
Saving Paper Copy Pays Off for Pension Counseling Project Client
A recent victory by the Trellis Project—Mid America Region demonstrates how important retaining paper copies of plan documents can be. In this case, John, a 79-year-old former employee of a large corporation, contacted Trellis because he was denied pension benefits. The corporation and its plan said there was no record of his employment — even […]
Happy Valentine’s Day from the Pension Rights Center
Though it’s a terrible time to try to get a dinner reservation, Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to let those around you know how much you appreciate them. And, wow, do we appreciate all of you! Thanks to your support, we’re able to put the retirement income needs of workers and retirees front and […]
NY Times Interviews Economist Alicia Munnell on Her Announced Retirement
By Karen Friedman For twenty-seven years, Alicia Munnell, the renowned economist and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR), has conducted nonpartisan research that has documented the strengths and inequities in the retirement system. Alicia and her academic colleagues at CRR, have authored important papers and briefs that have influenced […]
Bloomberg Law: AT&T’s Athene Pension Transfers Called Too Risky by Rights Group
“AT&T Inc. retirees challenging a transaction that shifted responsibility for funding nearly 100,000 pensions to an insurance company received support from the Pension Rights Center, which argued the move fell short of legal standards.”
Paying Tribute to Jimmy Carter, Pension Champion
By Karen Friedman When Jimmy Carter was elected President in 1976, I was a young whipper snapper living in an old, disheveled group house in Washington D.C. When I think back on that time, I fondly remember that his Administration—dedicated to energy conservation, peace and human rights—inspired me and many of my friends to become […]
PRC’s Letter to the ERISA Advisory Council on QDIAs and Lifetime Income
Read the Pension Rights Center’s letter to the ERISA Advisory Council on Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIAs) and Lifetime Income.
