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]
It may feel like as though 401(k)s have been around forever, but they’ve actually only been around for the past several decades. Until the 401(k) came along, if you had a workplace retirement plan it came in the form of a traditional defined benefit pension. The 401(k) actually got started as a loophole in tax [...] [...more]
