Retirement Security Law Commons^™

Social Security In An Era Of Retrenchment: What Would Happen If The Social Security Trust Funds Were Exhausted?, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Social Security's income, including interest income on the Social Security trust funds' reserves, currently exceeds costs. The system, however, is facing a long-term deficit. Specifically, the Social Security Trustees project that, unless the Social Security Act is amended, by 2033 the system's reserves will be depleted, and its income will only be sufficient to cover about 75 percent of scheduled benefits.

This article addresses two questions related to the funding of Social Security. Part I discusses what would happen if the Social Security trust funds were exhausted. Part II discusses whether Congress could amend the Social Security Act to reduce …

Disclosure To The Rescue: A Conceptual Framework For Retained Asset Accounts, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

RAAs (Retained Asset Accounts) are a life insurance innovation that is likely of small value to most beneficiaries. In many cases, it will make the most financial sense for a beneficiary to write a check to himself for the entire policy proceeds and deposit those funds into an insured bank account. Some beneficiaries, however, may find the RAA device helpful. It is impossible to anticipate the myriad circumstances that beneficiaries may face at the time of an insured's death. As long as insurers provide full and clear disclosure (which ERISA fiduciary standards demand), consumers should remain free to choose an …

Letter Regarding Irs Form 8955-Ssa Participant Notice Requirement, Mia Midenjak, Ellen A. Bruce

Pension Action Center Publications

On April 27, 2012, the Pension Action Center wrote to the Internal Revenue Service to advocate for the pension rights of American workers and retirees. The Pension Action Center’s letter was prompted by a request from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) that plans be relieved of their legal obligation to notify departing workers of their right to a pension.

Protect Your Pension: Important Documents You Should Keep, Mia Midenjak

Pension Action Center Publications

No matter what kind of pension or retirement plan your employer offers, you should keep certain documents indefinitely to ensure that your retirement benefit is paid correctly. Based on our experience with finding lost retirement income and assisting workers and retirees to get the benefits they have earned, we recommend that you save the following information.

What Determines Public Pension Investment Risk-Taking Policy?, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

What Is The Correct Standard Of Prudence In Employer Stock Cases?, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 541 (2012), José Martin Jara

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: The Past, Present, And Future Of Supreme Court Jurisprudence On Erisa, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. Xxv (2012), Colleen E. Medill

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court Fills A Gaping Hole: Cigna Corp. V. Amara Clarifies The Scope Of Equitable Relief Under Erisa, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 767 (2012), Susan Harthill

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Plan Descriptions After Amara, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 811 (2012), David Pratt

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Purpose Over Formality: Putting An End To The Catch-22 Preventing Workers From Speaking Up About Erisa Benefit Abuse, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 893 (2012), Lucas Walker

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vindicating Vulnerable Victims: Illinois's Efforts To Prevent Elder Financial Exploitation, Ashley Jaconetti

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Retirees Beware: Don't Worry About The British, 'Taxmageddon' Is Coming, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

"Taxmageddon" is coming. Unless Congress extends the current rates or reaches an agreement on tax reform, dividends will then be taxed as ordinary income at a marginal rate as high as 39.6 % and net capital gains will then be taxed at 20%. For high-income taxpayers, a 3.8% Medicare surtax will be added to the taxation of net capital gains, dividend income, interest, and other investment income, bringing the highest marginal rate to 43.4%.

Combating Moral Hazard: The Case For Rationalizing Public Employee Benefits, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

The current crisis in public employee benefits is a fairly conventional moral hazard story about overly generous promises made by both private sector employers and politicians spending public dollars. The private sector, forced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in 1993 to confront the true cost of promises made to future retirees, dealt with the newly discovered debt in a number of ways, including the termination of defined benefit plans which were quickly replaced by defined contribution plans. The public sector was also forced to confront its own largesse with the implementation of GASB 45 which focused careful attention …

Summary Of Mass State Pension Reform Law Chapter 176 Of The Acts Of 2011, Ellen A. Bruce

Pension Action Center Publications

Massachusetts passed significant changes to its public pension system meant to create cost savings for the state and to encourage employees to work longer. Most of the changes apply only to people hired after April 2, 2012. This summarizes the most important changes.

Defined (Yet Uncertain) Benefit Pension Plans In America, Travis Bayer

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Despite playing a central role in many public and private employees' retirements, defined benefit pension plans are woefully underfunded. Moreover, the combination of a Baby Boomer retirement bulge and a struggling economy are putting even more pressure on defined benefit plans. This Note examines relevant background information regarding defined benefit pension plans and demographic data of the Baby Boomer generation. This Note then explores how and to what extent states and private employers have created contractual obligations through defined benefit plans and addresses what happens when those contractual obligations are breached. Finally, this Note suggests that litigation cannot provide a …

An Overview Of The U.S. Retirement Income Security System And The Principles And Values It Reflects, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This article is designed to provide an overview of the U.S. retirement income security system from a comparative law perspective. Like many countries, the U.S. has a three tier pension or retirement income system, with the three tiers consisting of (1) Social Security, (2) employment-based pensions, and (3) individual savings. Thus, superficially, the U.S. retirement income security system resembles that of many around the world. Yet, in other ways, such as its focus on individual rights and responsibility, the U.S. system is unique.

The article begins by discussing the nine guiding principles of the U.S. Social Security system as identified …

Pension Reform: How Have Workers Fared?, Edward N. Wolff

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

When A Promise Isn't A Promise: Public Employers' Ability To Alter Pension Plans Of Retired Employees, Gavin Reinke

Vanderbilt Law Review

The economic downturn has placed enormous pressure on state budgets. The recession hit state pension funding plans for public employees particularly hard. Some projections indicate that, even with as much as an 8% return on their pension fund investments, seven states' funds will be out of money by 2020, and half of states' funds will be fully depleted by 2027.

State legislatures are scrambling to pass measures designed to return their pension funds to solvency. Most proposals only call for decreases in the amount of pension benefits provided to future retirees, but four states have gone much further. Colorado, Minnesota, …

Protecting Your Retirement Savings From Potential Creditors, Pension Action Center, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Pension Action Center Publications

State and federal laws provide strong protections to New England residents to shield their retirement savings from creditors. The particular protections available depend on whether you have filed for bankruptcy, how your retirement savings are kept, and where you live.

The Federal Common Law Of Vicarious Fiduciary Liability Under Erisa, Colleen E. Medill

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), the federal law that regulates employer-sponsored benefit plans, has a rich history of judiciallycreated federal common law. This Article explores the theoretical, policy, statutory, and stare decisis grounds for the development of another area offederal common law under ERISA-the incorporation of respondeat superior liability principles to impose ERISA fiduciary liability ("vicarious fiduciary liability") upon a corporation for the fiduciary activities of its employees or agents. The Article proposes that the federal courts should adopt a federal common law rule of vicarious fiduciary liability under ERISA based on the traditional scope of …

Fun With Numbers: Disclosing Risk To Individual Investors, Christian A. Weller

Gerontology Institute Publications

This paper discusses the need for better information on investment risks. The information should be relevant, concise, and accessible to individual investors. More and better information on factors that are likely to influence an investment’s performance and investors’ decisions should eventually lead to better investment decisions – more savings and higher retirement incomes. This paper presents a number of ways to disclose risk to individual investors. There are three numerical and three visual representations to risk. The discussion centers on the pros and cons of each risk representation. All risk descriptions show relevant information, are concise, and more or less …

The "Current Monthly Income" Debate: Unemployment Compensation As A "Benefit Received Under The Social Security Act"?, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 801 (2011), Brent Wilson

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Massachusetts State Public Worker Retirees: How Are They Doing?, Ellen A. Bruce, Lauren A. Martin

Gerontology Institute Publications

Although much has been made of the Massachusetts State Retirement System’s funding and abuses, little has been written about the benefits it provides. A retirement system should be judged first on whether it meets its goal of providing for workers in retirement.

A Primer On The History And Proper Drafting Of Qualified Domestic-Relations Orders, Terrence Cain

Law Faculty Scholarship

The divorce rate in the United States is slightly more than one-half the marriage rate. Divorce is a fact of life in this country, and will likely be so for the foreseeable future. On August 23, 1984, the divorce lawyer’s job got more complicated when Congress created the Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") as part of some significant amendments to ERISA. QDROs are necessary because before those 1984 ERISA amendments, a lot of divorced persons discovered that they could be deprived of their marital or community property interest in their former spouses' retirement plans. For most divorcing couples, the two …

Longevity Policy: Facing Up To Longevity Issues Affecting Social Security, Pensions, And Older Workers, John A. Turner

Upjohn Press

Turner argues that public policy should recognize longevity policy as a distinct policy area. Rather than separately treating issues raised by life expectancy (e.g., Social Security, pensions, older workers), a unified approach should be developed that recognizes their interrelationship.

The Transformation Of The American Pension System: Was It Beneficial For Workers?, Edward N. Wolff

Upjohn Press

The share of Americans with defined contribution pension plans now exceeds the share of those with defined benefit plans. Wolff refers to this as the "great transformation" and it leads him to examine recent evidence to see whether there are winners and losers resulting from this switch away from traditional pension plans.

Imagining The Ideal Pension System: International Perspectives, Dana M. Muir Editor, John A. Turner Editor

Upjohn Press

Muir and Turner gather an international roster of pension experts who present what they think would be the ideal pension systems for their countries and why. Those countries include the United States, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Poland, and Japan.

Erisa & Uncertainty, Brendan S. Maher, Peter K. Stris

Faculty Scholarship

In the United States, retirement income and health insurance are largely provided through private promises made incident to employment. These “benefit promises” are governed by a statute called ERISA, which many healthcare and pension scholars argue is the cause of fundamental problems with our nation’s health and retirement policy. Inevitably, however, they advance narrowly tailored proposals to amend the statute. This occurs because of the widely-held view that reform should leave undisturbed the underlying core of the statute. This Article develops a theory of ERISA designed to illustrate the unavoidable need for structural reform.

Encouraging Savings Under The Earned Income Tax Credit: A Nudge In The Right Direction, Vada Waters Lindsey

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

During 2007, 3.6 million or 9.7% of people in the United States age 65 or older were below the poverty level. In light of the number of elderly people living below the poverty level, it is important that everyone, including low-income workers, have the opportunity to save for retirement. Low-income workers face many challenges to saving for retirement. The barriers to saving include the lack of access to retirement plans and lack of investment savvy. For example, only 42 % of workers employed in service occupations in the private industry have access to employer retirement plans. The percentage drops to …

Redressing All Erisa Fiduciary Breaches Under Section 409 (A), Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.