Resource Type: Fact Sheets and Issue Papers
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. What are Tax Expenditures? Tax expenditures are commonly called […]
Resources for Multiemployer Reform
This is a critical time for retirement security. Thousands of retirees and workers in certain severely underfunded multiemployer plans – Cleveland Iron Workers Local 17, New York State Teamsters, Baltimore Ironworkers Local 16, and Teamsters Local 707 in New York, among them – have already lost a big share of their hard-earned pensions. More than […]
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. The Problem Multiemployer Pension Reform Act. MPRA allows deeply underfunded multiemployer plans to take the unprecedented step of cutting retiree pensions – in some […]
I’m getting divorced: What is a qualified domestic relations order and why should I care?
A retirement plan can be the largest asset in a marriage. Nonetheless, retirement plans are often forgotten or overlooked during divorce, in part because divorce is so complicated and in part because a divorce can occur years before retirement – and who’s thinking about retirement when it’s 10 or 20 years down the road? If […]
Saver’s Credit At-A-Glance: How the Saver’s Tax Credit Can Boost Your Retirement Savings
The average retirement benefit from Social Security may not be enough to pay for your expenses during retirement. The federal government encourages low-income earners to save for retirement through a tax credit called the Saver’s Credit. It is a non-refundable tax credit for individuals who make under $31,000 or married couples who make under $62,000 […]
Problems with ESOPs
An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a retirement plan in which investments are made primarily in the employer’s stock. The value of an ESOP account can grow in two ways – if the value of the stock increases or if additional shares are allocated to the participant’s account. Conversely, an ESOP account’s value will shrink […]
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. However, ESOPs pose serious risks that employees may not recognize until it’s too late. This paper describes how ESOP participants do not face just a single risk, […]
Resources for Participants in Multiemployer Pension Plans in “Critical and Declining” Status
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) allows severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans that are in “critical and declining” status to seek Treasury Department approval to cut pension benefits. Retirees worried about future pension cuts have asked us what they can do to protect their pensions. This fact sheet suggests steps they can take […]
Voices of People Facing MPRA Pension Cuts
The following stories have been collected as part of the Pension Rights Center story bank. Rita Lewis Westchester, Ohio | Age 64 Rita is the widow of Butch Lewis, a decorated Vietnam Veteran, who had driven a semi tractor trailer for 40 years while undergoing 37 surgeries to repair his knee that was injured in […]
Plans that have filed “critical and declining” status notices with the U.S. Department of Labor
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 gives the trustees of underfunded multiemployer plans that meet the definition of being in “critical and declining” status almost unprecedented authority to cut retiree pension benefits. Each plan listed below has notified the U.S. Department of Labor that it is in “critical and declining” status and eligible to […]
Pension plans that have applied to cut benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) gives the trustees of certain underfunded multiemployer plans that meet the definition of being in “critical and declining” status almost unprecedented authority to cut retiree pension benefits. The law requires, however, that before an eligible plan cuts benefits, it must first file an application with the U.S. […]
Resources for Central States Pension Fund Retirees
This page is intended to serve as a resource hub for retirees who are subject to cuts as a result of the Central States Pension Fund’s application to the U.S. Department of the Treasury to reduce retiree benefits. This page will be updated on an ongoing basis. On May 6, 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department […]
