Retirement Security Law Commons^™

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 …

Trusts No More: Rethinking The Regulation Of Retirement Savings In The United States, Natalya Shnitser

BYU Law Review

The regulation of private and public pension plans in the United States begins with the premise that employer-sponsored plans resemble traditional donative, or gift, trusts. Accordingly, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) famously “imports” major principles of donative trust law for the regulation of private employer-sponsored pension plans. Statutes regulating state and local government pension plans likewise routinely invoke the structure and standards applicable to donative trusts. Judges, in turn, adjudicate by analogy to the common law trust.

This Article identifies the flaws in the analogy and analyzes the shortcomings of a regulatory framework that, despite dramatic …

A Closer Look At The Iras In State Automatic Enrollment Ira Programs, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The United States faces a serious retirement savings funding gap. In an effort to fill that gap, a number of states and municipalities have begun to consider, and in some instances adopt, automatic enrollment IRA programs. Indeed, between September 2012 and June 2016, five states enacted state automatic enrollment IRA programs.

This Article takes a closer look at the IRAs in these state programs. It begins by providing an overview of the state laws creating automatic enrollment IRA programs. It then discusses the requirements that the state programs must satisfy in order to qualify as IRAs for purposes of the …

Why U.S. States Need Pension Waiver Credits, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This article identifies a novel approach to public pension reform, which takes into account existing political and legal constraints. It does its work in four key ways. First, the article encourages better use of public sector resources by calling for the elimination of public pension inefficiencies. Next, it explains how to reduce public pension inefficiencies, on a prospective basis, by moving away from defined-benefit pension plans. Third, the article describes one way to move beyond defined-benefit pension plans through the creation of a new tax expenditure program (specifically, a Pension Waiver Credits Program). Finally, it explains how to implement this …

Why Low-Income Workers Need To Save For Retirement And How They Can Do It, Philip C. Aka, Chidera Oku, Elizabeth Arnott-Hill, Aref A. Hervani

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personal Injury Victims As Insurance Collection Agents: Erisa Preemption Of State Antisubrogation Laws, Jonathan P. Connery

Journal of Law and Policy

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was enacted in 1974 to protect the pension rights of employees nationwide. However, due to its broad preemptive powers, ERISA has since developed into a tool used by health insurers to recover millions of dollars in tort damages meant to benefit employees with ERISA health plans. This practice, known as subrogation, has been met with legislative backlash in the form of state antisubrogation statutes, which attempt to limit the enforceability of subrogation clauses found in almost all ERISA health plans. However, many courts have held that ERISA preempts these antisubrogation statutes, thereby affirming …

Labor And Employment Law At The 2014-2015 Supreme Court: The Court Devotes Ten Percent Of Its Docket To Statutory Interpretation In Employment Cases, But Rejects The Argument That What Employment Law Really Needs Is More Administrative Law, Scott A. Moss

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Collective Fiduciary, Lauren R. Roth

Scholarly Works

Can fiduciaries be made to serve public goals? The movement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) towards universal access to health insurance requires us to focus on the fiduciary relationships between large organizations providing access to healthcare and the populations they serve. These relationships have become a collective undertaking instead of a direct, personal relationship.

In this Article, I introduce the concept of the collective fiduciary in response to the shift towards uniform, national goals in the realm of health insurance and healthcare. Only through a collective approach can we hold fiduciaries accountable for the welfare of …

After Tackett: Incomplete Contracts For Post-Employment Healthcare, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the recent U.S. Supreme Court retiree health care decision in Tackett v. M & G Polymers and focuses, in particular, on the ostensibly odd silence with respect to a critical contract term — whether the parties in fact agreed that these benefits were vested. Although the union in Tackett insisted these welfare benefits were clearly intended to vest and the employer now asserts they can be modified at any time, the collective bargaining agreement and supporting documents are ambiguous on this question. This paper examines how and why this “silence” persisted for so many decades and concludes …

Marital History And Retirement Security: An Empirical Analysis Of The Work, Family, And Gender Relationship, Lauren A. Martin Palmer

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the relationship between marital history and individuals’ retirement resources, namely Social Security, employer-sponsored pensions, and non-housing wealth. Prior research provides a foundation for understanding marriage’s positive relationship to retirement security, and suggests that marriage is financially beneficial and can even lessen some external factors that would otherwise damage a family’s financial situation. Yet changing demographics, with fewer people in first marriages and rising numbers of individuals experiencing divorce and choosing to remain unmarried, suggest our understanding of this relationship for today’s retirees may be limited. The purpose of this research is to identify which aspects of complex …

Illusory Rights Under The Arbitrary And Capricious Standard: Adding Remedial Safeguards To The Judicial Standard Of Review Beyond Erisa Denial Of Benefits Claims, Javier J. Diaz

Seton Hall Circuit Review

No abstract provided.

We Wouldn’T Be Here If It Weren’T For Them: Encouraging Family Caregiving Of Indigent Parents Through Filial Responsibility Laws, Katie Sisaket

Journal of Public Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Anti-Fraud Provisions Of The Securities Act; Erisa; Pension Plans; Section 17(A) Private Right Of Action; Daniel V. International Brotherhood Of Teamsters, Marlene P. Emery, Barbara M. Heinzerling

Akron Law Review

In Daniel v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the federal securities laws apply to disclosure of information regarding employee pension and profit sharing plans. In an era when disclosure of information has become mandatory and commonplace, it is not surprising that relevant information on pension plans should be disclosed to employees. The important aspect of this case is that disclosure was required under the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, rather than under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Questions concerning the Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction over …

Securities Laws Implications For Savings Associations Acting As Trustees For Ira's And Keoghs

Akron Law Review

This article will focus on the major problem area which has resulted from the above legislation. That problem is whether or not a savings association must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pursuant to the Securities Act of 1931 or the Investment Company Act of 1940, as a consequence of acting as trustee for an IRA or Keogh plan.

Disqualitifcation Of Employee Retirement Plans: The Wrong Remedy, William J. Rands

Akron Law Review

Yet Congress failed to extirpate from the tax laws the sanction of disqualifying an employee retirement plan. Not only has disqualification been described as being "draconian" and "harsh," but it has also been noted that it results in "tragedy," "penalizes the covered employees who have no part in the wrongdoing,"6 and frustrates the legislative purpose of encouraging the establishment and maintenance of employee retirement plans. The imposition of this sanction is nonsensical: the tax consequences devastate the financial security of employees whose future depends on the retirement income they will receive from their employers' plans. This article will discuss this …

Post-Norris Ambiguities: Unanswered Questions For Women And The Pension Industry, T. Timothy Ryan Jr., Paula A. Rock

Akron Law Review

On April 25, 1978, the United States Supreme Court decided Los Angeles Department of Water and Power v. Manhart in a way that was bound to have a profound effect on the pension industry. The division of opinion in the Manhart Court was indicative of the difficulty of the question presented. In Part I, this article examines the Court's findings in Manhart, as well as its conclusions in a more recent case, Arizona Governing Committee v. Norris, in which the Supreme Court extended its Manhart holding in a way bound to have an equally significant impact on pension …

Retiree Welfare Benefits: Erisa, Lmra And The Federal Common Law, Frances Figetakis

Akron Law Review

Part I of this comment will examine the applicable statutory law in this area. Part II will examine the developing body of federal case law. Part III will address the underlying policy concerns in conjunction with already established precedent to provide insight into what the law in this area should be.

Finding A Financial Planner, Emily G. Brown Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

This fact sheet provides information on how to find the right financial planner to help you meet your retirement planning goals. This fact sheet suggests things to consider prior to picking a financial planner and answers questions like:

• What do financial planners do?
• How do you know if you need a financial planner?
• How do you find the right financial planner?
• What type of professional title does a financial planner have?

401(K) Plan Expenses, Anne Becker, Jeffrey Arnold

Pension Action Center Publications

Under a 401(k) plan, your benefit is your vested account balance. This account balance reflects the contributions you make to the plan, the contributions your employer makes to the plan on your behalf (if any), and investment gains and losses.

Many 401(k) plan participants are responsible for choosing how to invest their account balances. If you direct the investment of your 401(k) plan account balance, it is important to understand that fees and expenses may substantially reduce the growth of your 401(k) plan account balance over the course of your working life. The Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that paying …

Your Former Employer’S 401(K) Plan, Jeanne Medeiros Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

When you leave a job where you have participated in a 401(k) plan, you may have a number of different options about what to do with the money in that account. This fact sheet explains those options and offers guidance about the pros and cons of each option.

Here are some frequently asked questions answered in this face sheet:

Q. Can I leave my money in my former employer’s plan?

Q. What are my other options?

Q. If I decide to withdraw the account balance from my former employer’s plan, how do I do that, and how long should it …