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  • Puerto Rico and Pensions: the Basics

    Puerto Rico and its debt crisis remain in the news as Congress considers legislation to help the island territory restructure and manage its debt. Puerto Rico’s pensioners remain trapped in this crisis as well. Just last week, a new audit…

  • Student Loan Debt and Retirement: Part 2

    Back in March, we wrote about how high levels of student loan debt are decreasing retirement security for many Americans. A report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College had found that current levels of student loan debt…

  • 401(k)s are failing most American workers

    If you are a long time reader of Defined Benefit, then you know that we are no fan of 401(k)s here. As 401(k)s have increasingly replaced defined benefit pensions, the retirement security of many Americans has eroded. A new report…

  • Cities Are Sticking With Pensions

    As we explained last week, 2016 has been a good year so far for pensions in state legislatures across the country. However, states aren’t the only ones choosing to protect their workers’ retirement security by protecting pensions. Cities are also…

  • Are Hedge Funds Hurting Your Pension?

    Public pensions have a complicated and increasingly strained relationship with hedge funds. While many pensions have increased their investments in hedge funds and other alternative assets, other pensions are turning away from these funds and looking for less expensive investments.…

  • State Pension Recap: 2016 Sessions

    By this point in the year, many state legislatures have either already finished their 2016 session or will conclude within the next couple weeks. For working families and retirees, the news has been mostly good so far. Legislatures in several…

  • Donald Trump and Your Retirement

    [This post was updated in August 2016 to reflect new developments.] Donald Trump is now the Republican presidential nominee. After his decisive victory in the Indiana Republican primary, his two remaining rivals- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John…

  • Early Retirement May Be Unavoidable

    The full retirement age for Social Security is gradually moving from 65 to 67. Some politicians want to raise it even higher. Additionally, some people say the solution to America’s retirement security crisis is to work longer. For many workers,…

  • Do It Yourself Retirement
    retirement age public pensions

    Over the past thirty years, pensions have almost disappeared in the private sector. Fortunately, pensions are still fairly common in the public sector, but even there, they are under attack. This decline in the availability of pensions represents a shift…

  • National Teacher Appreciation Day

    Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. Here at NPPC we appreciate teachers everyday and the valuable contributions they make to our communities. However, today, let’s take a look at how teachers benefit from the security of a defined benefit pension.…

  • Why Do Pension Boards Matter?

    We’ve written before about where public pensions get their money: the employer and the employee both contribute to the pension fund, that money gets invested, and the investment returns provide the majority of money used to pay retirement benefits to…

  • Michigan Lobby Day 2016

    This week a group of dedicated retirees in Michigan descended on Lansing to stand up for the retirement of their younger counterparts by lobbying their legislators to protect pensions. We often cite Michigan as an example of a state that…