The Defined Benefit

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  • Even Major Universities Can’t Beat High 401(k) Fees

    Last week eight major universities were sued by their own employees for failing to curb excessive fees in their retirement plans. In a series of class action lawsuits filed across the country, the plaintiffs allege that the universities failed to…

  • How Has Pension Wealth Changed Over Time?
    retirement-graph

    As we’ve written about extensively on this blog, employer-sponsored retirement plans have changed a lot over time. In the private sector, 401(k)s have largely replaced defined benefit pensions and this shift has weakened the retirement security of working families. 401(k)s…

  • Going for the Gold in Retirement

    The Opening Ceremonies for the 2016 Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro last Friday. Four days into the competition, medals have been awarded, dreams have been fulfilled, and millions watching at home have been inspired. Just like the…

  • What Happened to Private Sector Pensions?

    It is one of the most well-known stories about American retirement: the decline of defined benefit pensions in the private sector. At one time, 88 percent of private sector workers who had a workplace retirement plan had a pension. That…

  • Private and Public Pensions and the State of Retirement Security

    At one time, defined benefit pensions were the most common retirement plan for working people. Workers in both the public and private sectors enjoyed the security and reliability of pensions in planning for retirement. These workers knew that if they…

  • The Democratic National Convention Stands Up for Pensions

    The Democratic Party begins its convention today in Philadelphia. The Democrats will nominate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be their presidential nominee and Senator Tim Kaine to be her running mate. The party will also approve the party…

  • State Budgets and Public Pensions: Kansas

    Public pensions play a major role in state budgets. This also means that the budget and tax decisions made by state legislatures and governors have a big impact on public pensions. In no state is this relationship better demonstrated than…

  • How will the Republican convention affect your retirement?

    Today the Republican Party kicks off its presidential nominating convention. The GOP is expected to nominate reality TV star Donald Trump for president and Indiana Governor Mike Pence for vice president. We’ve expressed concern in the past about Trump and…

  • You Can Take It With You: Pensions and Portability

    A new report out this week from the National Institute on Retirement Security offers some new insights about the portability of defined benefit pensions. According to the report, pensions have a fairly high degree of portability. One common criticism of…

  • The Great Recession and Public Pensions

    The 2008 financial crisis- dubbed “The Great Recession” by many- had devastating consequences throughout the American economy. Public pension plans were among the hardest hit by the Wall Street greed that led to the crisis. Many public pensions suffered steep…

  • Retirement is Hard if You’re Poor
    retirement

    We’ve written before about how 401(k)s favor the wealthy, but also how pensions can help low-income workers prepare to retire. In general, low-income workers struggle to save for retirement and that is reflected in the large disparity in retirement savings…

  • How Are Pension Benefits Calculated?
    public pension plans

    Defined benefit pensions are the most secure and reliable way to provide retirement security for working families. The key feature of pensions is that they pay a guaranteed monthly benefit for life. This provides retirees with unparalleled retirement security and…