Retirement Security Law Commons^™

The Erisa Hokey-Pokey: You Put Your Top Hat In, You Put Your Top Hat Out, Sally Lerner Galati

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Limitations Of Retirement Plan Law, Peter M. Van Zante

ExpressO

It is widely believed that employers determine whether or not their employees receive retirement benefits and the type and amount of any benefits that are received. This belief is mistaken. While sponsorship of a retirement plan is a voluntary choice on the part of the sponsoring employer and the sponsoring employer directly controls the type of plan and the level of benefits provided, the employer's choices on these matters are controlled by its employees' preferences for different forms of compensation. An employer must spend the funds available for employee compensation so as to provide its employees with those forms of …

The Changing World Of Employee Benefits, Maria O'Brien Hylton

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The employee benefits picture, at least for many plan participants and some plan sponsors, is a scary and bleak one. The number of workers with pension coverage is declining, health insurance rates are rising much faster than the rate of inflation, and the number of uninsured continues to rise as well. The decline in union density, the recent boost given by the U.S. Supreme Court to Any Willing Provider ("AWP") laws, and the deluge of recent benefits-related scandals are also all part of this landscape. This Article examines each of these issues, with a focus on reforms that would increase …

Commentary: Is It Time To Take The Broom And Really Clean House? A New Paradigm For Employee Benefits, Mary Ellen Signorille

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recovering Retirement Security: An Analysis Of The Lockdown Claims Under Erisa, As Illustrated By The Enron Litigation, Margo Eberlein

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Note discusses Enron's lockdown of its 401(k) plan, the effect this decision had on Enron employees' pension funds, and the legal implications of this decision under the current statutory framework, ERISA. It describes the lawsuit filed by Enron employees in an attempt to recover some of the lost funds, as well as the probability of success for that action specifically and similar actions under ERISA in the future.

What Is Fiscal Responsibility? Long-Term Deficits, Generational Accounting, And Capital Budgeting, Neil H. Buchanan

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

This article assesses three basic approaches to assessing the future effects of the government’s fiscal policies: traditional measures of the deficit, measures associated with Generational Accounting, and measures derived from applying Capital Budgeting to the federal accounts. I conclude that Capital Budgeting is the best of the three approaches and that Generational Accounting is the least helpful. Acknowledging that there might be some value in learning what we can from a variety of approaches to analyzing fiscal policy, I nevertheless conclude that Generational Accounting is actually a misleading or--at best--empty measure of future fiscal developments. The best approach to providing …

Public Policy Considerations Warranting Denial Of Reimbursement To Erisa Plans: It's Time To Recognize The Elephant In The Courtroom, Roger M. Baron

Mercer Law Review

A number of recent federal court opinions, including a decision by the United States Supreme Court, have denied plans falling under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA) the opportunity to seek reimbursement for medical expenses paid for plan members. Without delving into the weighty policy considerations that support these decisions, the courts rendering these decisions have constrained their analyses to simple statutory construction of the relevant provisions of ERISA. As a result, these decisions might appear to be hyper-technical on the surface. However, significant policy considerations underlie the results. This Article will explore the policy considerations that …

Erisa: Re-Thinking Firestone In Light Of Great-West - Implications For Standard Of Review And The Right To A Jury Trial In Welfare Benefit Claims, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 629 (2004), Donald T. Bogan

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of The Misuse Of Administrative Law In Erisa Benefit Claims, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 727 (2004), Mark D. Debofsky

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lost Pension Money: Who Is Responsible? Who Benefits?, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 695 (2004), Ellen A. Bruce J.D., John Turner Ph.D.

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Cash Balance Plan: An Integral Component Of The Defined Benefit Plan Renaissance, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 753 (2004), Barry Kozak

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Practical Planning Ideas For Distibutions From Iras And Qualified Plans, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 807 (2004), Steven R. Lifson

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Counting The Cash: Disclosure And Cash Balance Plans, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 849 (2004), Dana M. Muir

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keeping Employees' Trust: The Rocky Road Ahead For Pension Plan Trustees, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 903 (2004), Nikolay A. Ouzounov

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lessons From The French Funding Debate, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The French retirement system, like the American social security system, is facing long-term funding difficulties. As a result, the French are debating whether to expand the role of pre-funded retirement plans. The economic arguments presented in this debate are virtually identical to the economic arguments presented in the American debate on whether the American social security system should be partially privatized.

The French and American debates, however, diverge once history and ideology are considered. The French have a history of failed funded pensions in contrast to the United States where the failure of prominent underfunded pension led to the enactment …

Hope We Die Before We Get Old: The Attack On Retirement, Patricia E. Dilley

UF Law Faculty Publications

The American institution of retirement has sustained numerous attacks over the last twenty years, to the extent that it may cease to exist by the time most of today's workers reach their midsixties. Professor Patricia Dilley describes how all of the components of the "three-legged stool" that represents private pensions, personal savings, and Social Security, have declined so significantly in recent years that the combination may not be able to provide support for the elderly in the future, particularly those retired seniors who are in the lower and middle classes. Changes in employment policies, the markets for retirement savings investment, …

The Future Of Americans' Pensions: Revamping Pension Plan Asset Allocation To Combat The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's Deficit, Kathleen H. Czarney

Cleveland State Law Review

To protect the financial future of retirees, this Note advocates that Congress pass legislation mandating a certain percentage of retirement plan funds be allocated into a low-risk individual retirement account ("IRA") insured by the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"). This plan will shift the massive financial burden off of the PBGC. Section II of this Note provides an overview of pension plans and the PBGC with reference to economic and demographic factors that affect pensions. Thereafter, Section III discusses the current economic circumstances and their affect on retirement savings and the future of the PBGC." Section IV analyzes pending federal …

Retirement Security Through Asset Protection: The Evolution Of Wealth, Privilege, And Policy, John K. Eason

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reply To Judge Easterbrook: The Unsupported Delegation Of Conflict Adjudication In Erisa Benefit Claims Under The Guise Of Judicial Deference, Donald T. Bogan

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pension Law: Cash Balance Pension Plans Are Not Inherently Age Discriminatory: Cooper V. Ibm Personal Pension Plan Defies A Strong History Of Support For The Cash Balance Design, Allison C. Mcgrath

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Labor Standards On Cypriot Ships: Myth And Reality, Iliana Christodoulou-Varotsi, Dmitri A. Pentsov

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article offers a comprehensive comparative analysis of labor and social security standards on Cypriot and Greek ships. Potential cost savings for shipowners who register their ships in one country rather than the other may result from the absence of a given standard in the country of registration, or a lower or more flexible standard in that country than in the other. The authors conclude that the registration of ships in Cyprus does not provide overall advantages (in terms of "inferior" labor standards) over registration in Greece. Broadly speaking, shipowners may gain certain advantages by registering their ships in Cyprus …

Retirement Security Through Asset Protection: An Evolution Of Wealth, Privilege, And Policy, John K. Eason

Faculty Articles

This article examines post-1974 progressions in congressional and judicial thinking about asset protection as it relates specifically to the attainment of federal retirement policy goals. The article first considers the link between historical trust protections and modern federal retirement policy. That analysis reveals a more recent trend towards defining the scope of retirement plan asset protection by reference to statutory rules that grant favorable treatment to certain retirement savings devices. Those rules provide an incentive for funding future retirement through current savings. This article explains how, and why, asset protection could be similarly tailored to foster retirement income security goals. …

A Plain Meaning Interpretation Of Erisa’S Preemption And Saving Clauses: In Support Of A State Law Preemption Of Section 1132(A) Of Erisa’S Civil Enforcement Provisions

San Diego Law Review

Most of that change has involved the direction in which the Court has taken its interpretation of the phrase “relate to” as contained in ERISA’s express preemption clause. Changing course after approximately twenty-five years of expansively interpreting the preemption clause, the Court has moved from a very broad interpretation of “relate to,” as announced in Pilot Life v. Dedeaux, to a more practical, case-by-case evaluation that principally asks whether a disputed state law interferes with ERISA’s purposes and objectives, as discussed in New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance Co1 If the state …