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Retirement Security Law Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Retirement Security Law

Don't Count Your Nest Eggs Before They Vest: A Lack Of Reform Could Leave A Generation Of Retiring Israelis Without A Future, Tomer Vandsburger Apr 2016

Don't Count Your Nest Eggs Before They Vest: A Lack Of Reform Could Leave A Generation Of Retiring Israelis Without A Future, Tomer Vandsburger

Washington International Law Journal

Israel’s pension system has changed drastically since the mid-1990s, when it faced an underfunding crisis. The transition to defined contribution plans permitted a wider range of investments and shifted the burden of income-replacement from the government to the individual pension plan participant. This shift required increased protections for pension plans, which led to the creation of the Capital Market Insurance and Savings Division (CMISD) to oversee and regulate pension management entities. In comparison to post-Soviet nations that experienced similar transitions from socialist to market economies, Israel’s pension system is significantly healthier and more regulated. However, the CMISD must enact measures …


Facing The Aging Wave: Proposed Social Security Reform In The Philippines, Les Coughran Mar 2003

Facing The Aging Wave: Proposed Social Security Reform In The Philippines, Les Coughran

Washington International Law Journal

The Philippines's Social Security System is eroding because of demographic changes. These changes have tipped the financial balance, which incremental design changes have failed to restore. The system contains weaknesses that are exacerbated by limited financial transparency and poor asset management. International social security systems, designed to include public defined benefit programs, public hypothetical account programs, publicly mandated defined contribution programs, and/or private sphere components, provide the Philippines with examples of alternate national systems. While each of these components alleviates certain risks, no single component is comprehensive in safeguarding against demographic, economic, or inflationary risks. This Comment asserts that the …


Facing The Aging Wave: Proposed Social Security Reform In The Philippines, Les Coughran Mar 2003

Facing The Aging Wave: Proposed Social Security Reform In The Philippines, Les Coughran

Washington International Law Journal

The Philippines's Social Security System is eroding because of demographic changes. These changes have tipped the financial balance, which incremental design changes have failed to restore. The system contains weaknesses that are exacerbated by limited financial transparency and poor asset management. International social security systems, designed to include public defined benefit programs, public hypothetical account programs, publicly mandated defined contribution programs, and/or private sphere components, provide the Philippines with examples of alternate national systems. While each of these components alleviates certain risks, no single component is comprehensive in safeguarding against demographic, economic, or inflationary risks. This Comment asserts that the …


Rico Rights For Erisa Wrongs: Can Plaintiffs Find Relief Despite Erisa Preemption Of State-Law Claims?, Alan R. Ross Jan 2000

Rico Rights For Erisa Wrongs: Can Plaintiffs Find Relief Despite Erisa Preemption Of State-Law Claims?, Alan R. Ross

Washington Law Review

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts state laws that relate to employee benefit plans and allows only equitable relief for those who are injured by decisions of ERISA plan administrators. Even though the interpretation of ERISA's preemptive power has changed since 1974, ERISA still poses a significant challenge to plaintiffs in actions for damages against plan administrators. This Comment suggests that another federal law, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which is explicitly not preempted by ERISA, may provide relief. The challenges that a plaintiff bringing an action against plan administrators may face include …


A Cultural Exchange: Singapore And The United States Can Learn From Each Other In Restructuring Social Security Plans, Ken J. Moyle Mar 1997

A Cultural Exchange: Singapore And The United States Can Learn From Each Other In Restructuring Social Security Plans, Ken J. Moyle

Washington International Law Journal

Singapore and the United States approach the concept of retirement income replacement from different directions. The United States relies on the OASDI component of the Social Security Act, a tax-based intergenerational transfer program, while Singapore operates under the Central Provident Fund Act, which requires workers and their employers to contribute to a compulsory savings scheme. Elements of each program conflict with the cultural values of the society it serves, and each society could benefit from adopting certain components and underlying concepts of the other's national retirement plan.


Simas V. Quaker Fabric Corp.: Erisa Preemption Of Statutory Tin Parachutes, Kristin D. Anger Oct 1994

Simas V. Quaker Fabric Corp.: Erisa Preemption Of Statutory Tin Parachutes, Kristin D. Anger

Washington Law Review

In Simas v. Quaker Fabric Corp., the First Circuit invalidated Massachusetts's innovative tin parachute statute, designed to assist workers displaced by corporate takeovers, by finding it preempted by ERISA. After examining the relationship between the tin parachute and ERISA and the analysis in Simas, this Note argues that preemption was mandated neither by ERISA itself nor by decisions interpreting its preemptive reach. In light of the state interest at stake, the Simas decision is unfortunate and suggests the need for a legislative solution.


The Right To Pension Benefits Under Erisa When A Nonemployee Spouse Predeceases The Employee Spouse, Stacy Lynn Anderson Jul 1992

The Right To Pension Benefits Under Erisa When A Nonemployee Spouse Predeceases The Employee Spouse, Stacy Lynn Anderson

Washington Law Review

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, retirement benefits cannot be assigned or alienated. In 1984, Congress enacted the Retirement Equity Act (REA) which allowed retirement benefits to be divided between former spouses upon divorce, under a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). It is unclear whether the restriction on alienation of benefits extended to a transfer of the interests of a nonemployee spouse who predeceases the employee spouse, and if so, whether such a disposition is within the QDRO exception. In a two-to-one decision in Ablamis v. Roper, the Ninth Circuit held that the exception did not extend to such …


Erisa Preemption Of Community Property Law—Francis V. United Technologies Corp., 458 F. Supp. 84 (N.D. Cal. 1978), Donald L. Shanks Apr 1980

Erisa Preemption Of Community Property Law—Francis V. United Technologies Corp., 458 F. Supp. 84 (N.D. Cal. 1978), Donald L. Shanks

Washington Law Review

The theory of modem domestic relations law—marriage as partnership—requires recognition of the non-employee spouse's ownership interest in the pension. This note challenges the Francis court's finding that recognition of the non-employee spouse's ownership interest was preempted by ERISA, concluding that Congress did not intend to bring about the regression in domestic relations law that Francis threatens.