Mary Rich worked for a hospital in northern New Jersey for 25 years, first as a registered nurse and later as an executive. One of the job’s benefits was a traditional pension that she expected to receive at retirement. Now that benefit seems unlikely to be around by the time she retires. Rich’s financially troubled [...] [...more]
Stock market crashes have become fairly regular events since the economy collapsed in 2008 and 2009. Each time the market plunges, you can count on seeing a flurry of news reports looking at just how badly workplace 401(k) retirement portfolios have been hit. Rarely will you see a story asking why the market risk is [...] [...more]
Can we afford retirement in this country? Not if you believe politicians who claim entitlement spending is out of control and that the economy is being dragged down by our aging population. I don’t buy it. Soaring healthcare spending is a critical problem, but not only because our population is aging. And Social Security is [...] [...more]
The number of private sector workers who have traditional pensions is shrinking — and those who do have pensions are worried. Headlines about underfunded public sector plans have fueled the concerns, along with general worry about the economy and the health of employers. But if you are lucky enough to have a private sector job [...] [...more]
A U.S. Supreme Court sent an important reminder to retirees this week: you can’t necessarily rely on your employer for an accurate description of your pension benefits. The court issued a ruling in Cigna v. Amara, a closely-watched case dealing with the health insurance company’s defined benefit (DB) pension plan for its own workers. Cigna [...] [...more]
