Welcome to the latest edition This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best 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 the top stories from this week:
Retired public employees need a COLA by Ed Redmon. In this op-ed for the Topeka Capital-Journal, retired firefighter Redmon writes about why Kansas’ retired public employees need a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year. Redmon, a 92-year old World War II veteran and two-time Kansas Fire Marshal and chief of the Topeka Fire Department, highlights the fact that it’s been 22 years since Kansas retirees received a COLA. It’s been so long since a COLA was granted that “88 percent of retirees in Kansas have never actually received a COLA since they retired,” Redmon writes. “Retirees just like me are struggling right now in the various communities we protected and served.”
New Report Finds 40 Percent of Older Americans Rely Solely on Social Security for Retirement Income by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). On Tuesday, NIRS released a new report which found that a distressingly large share of older Americans rely solely on Social Security for income in retirement. The report also stated that “only a small percentage of older Americans, seven percent, receive income from Social Security, a defined benefit pension, and a defined contribution account,” which retirement experts consider to be the “three-legged stool” of savings that provides financial security in retirement.
Gov. Beshear gives first State of the Commonwealth address by Taylor Durden. In this piece for WAVE Channel 3 in Kentucky, Durden reports on Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s first State of the Commonwealth address to lawmakers in the state capital of Frankfort, Kentucky. Gov. Beshear addressed fully funding the state’s public pension system, stating: “A pension is a promise and should be treated as such. We owe so much to our educators, social workers, first responders and public servants.” We’ll continue to keep a close eye on Kentucky in the near future as the governor is expected to introduce his budget plan in two weeks.
Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!
