This Week in Pensions December 6, 2024

Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. You need to know this news in the fight for a secure retirement.

NPPC News

In case you missed it, NPPC is leading an initiative to encourage the Senate to fully repeal WEP & GPO before the end of the year. Read more about it in our blog, Understanding WEP and GPO: Why We Must Act Now.

Meadville, PA City Councilors Agree to Return to Pensions

After nearly ten years, the municipality of Meadville, Pennsylvania, is reversing its decision to eliminate traditional defined-benefit pensions for city firefighters. The unanimous approval of a three-year agreement will provide Meadville Central Fire Department members with pensions and guaranteed wage increases for the next three years. The agreement comes with pitfalls, including increasing employee contributions to medical insurance and eliminating post-retirement healthcare benefits for firefighters retiring after Dec. 31, 2024. 

Meadville joins the growing list of state and municipal governments that have opted to ditch 401(k)-style retirement plans to return to a stable defined-benefit pension. 

Experts Say Alaska’s Shrinking Population is Troubling 

Alaska’s ongoing outmigration issue has reached a tipping point, troubling state leadership. David Howell, the state demographer, reported this week that after 11 years of population loss, Alaska’s long-term population decline is expected to continue unless state lawmakers take action. 

An increasing average population age, projected to be 40.9 years by the year 2050, combined with a falling natural increase rate (the annual number of births versus deaths in the state) complicates the issue. The lagging birth rate means that once Millennials replace retiring Baby Boomers, there will be fewer younger residents to fill in the gaps. 

“And at that point, there’s really nobody behind them to replace them, so what you’ll really see is that labor force starts to shrink very, very rapidly once that starts to happen,” Howell explained. “Even if we had birth rates explode today, those workers would just be hitting the labor force as millennials are hitting retirement ages,” he said.

During the 2022-2024 legislative session, lawmakers supporting the reopening of a defined-benefit pension system for public employees cited the state’s population loss as a major contributor to the problematic vacancies in the public sector. 

Be sure to check back next Friday for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement! For now, sign up for NPPC News Clips to receive daily pension news from across the country directly to your inbox.