Funding relief

A new law will let companies contribute billions of dollars less to their workers' pension funds, raising concerns about weakening the plans that millions of Americans count on for retirement.

Today, Congress passed H.R. 4348, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which, among other things, re-authorized funding for the nation's highways and extended the current low interest rate on student loans. Why is the Pension Rights Center following this bill?

The Pension Counseling and Information Projects are mentioned in this Morningstar column, which offers advice on protecting your pension benefits.

Who wants to hear about pensions? No one. But that’s sort of the point! Yesterday, I noted that the Senate’s two-year highway bill used a few gimmicks to paper over shortfalls in gas-tax revenue. And one of those was a little-noticed tweak in pension rules that could end up being quite important.