Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! Each week we gather the top stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.

Here are this week’s top stories:

• The Millennials’ Dilemma: Pay Off Student Loans or Save for Retirement by Bailey Childers: NPPC’s executive director writes in the Huffington Post about how high student loan debt limits the ability of young workers to save for retirement.
• San Diego’s D9 City Council Candidates – All of Them – Want to Bring Back City Pensions by Ry Rivard: after Carl DeMaio’s Prop B eliminated pensions for new city employees, the city of San Diego has experienced hiring problems (as has been the case in other places that eliminated pensions). In the face of these problems, some city council candidates are supporting a move back to pensions (a move that was recently made by Palm Beach, FL).
• Unions: N.J. worker pensions shouldn’t rely so much on hedge funds by Adam Liebtag: many public pensions are invested in hedge funds, seeking the high returns promised by hedge fund managers. In the face of poor returns and high fees, however, many pension funds are starting to question whether they are getting their money’s worth with hedge funds.
• 48% of Americans saving for retirement are pretty sure they have no idea what they’re doing by Myles Udland: a new report by the Federal Reserve finds that almost half of Americans saving for retirement in 401(k) plans are not confident that they are making good investment decisions. A lack of professional investment management is one of the many flaws of 401(k)s and the poor investment decisions made by many individuals contributes to their lack of retirement security.
• Universal Pensions: A progressive alternative to retirement savings by Michelle Di Ionno: finally this week, a proposal from an economist at the Progressive Policy Institute for a “Universal Pension” retirement plan. While not a universal defined benefit pension program, the proposal is an interesting idea to replace the failed 401(k) system in the private sector and avoid the many failings of the 401(k).

Check back next week for the latest news about pensions and retirement security!