Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! Each week we recap the top stories about pensions and retirement security. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
Here are this week’s top stories:
- Obama’s call for expanding Social Security could be a game-changer by Michael Hiltzik: in recognition of the looming retirement crisis, President Obama recently called for expanding Social Security. As the President said: “It’s time we finally made Social Security more generous and increased its benefits so that today’s retirees and future generations get the dignified retirement that they’ve earned.”
- PERB’s Prop B decision backed by evidence by Michael Zucchet: California’s Public Employee Relations Board recently struck down Carl DeMaio’s anti-pension Proposition B. This victory for working families is strongly supported by the evidence, explains Michael Zucchet. (There is currently a court case over the PERB’s decision)
- The truth about retiring by 70 by Susie Poppick: many Americans are working later in life either delaying retirement or not retiring at all because of inadequate savings. As the author points out, one reason for this is the decline in defined benefit pensions in the private sector. It is much more difficult to prepare for retirement with a risky and inadequate 401(k)!
- Quick Fix Need for Ailing Puerto Rico Public Pension System by Joe Lustig: this week the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to address Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. One major provision of the bill is the creation of a federal control board to oversee the territory’s finances. If Puerto Rico’s public pension system becomes insolvent, as a recent system audit predicted, then the federal control board would determine what happens to the pension system and the benefits promised to thousands of Puerto Rican working families.
Be sure and check back next week for the latest news on pensions and retirement security!
