Retirement
Benefits Crippling Large and Small Businesses Alike
Two New York Times items today create a useful, if discouraging, overview of the way the American reliance on employers to provide health and pension benefits hurts our economy (and health). One explores how collectively-bargained benefit commitments hampered GM and left it vulnerable to collapse. The other discusses the massive lack of health coverage in the small business sector and how states are attempting to remedy it.
Four Supreme Court Employment Decisions in One Day!
Score that employees 2, employers 2. High Court rules: disability retirement program did not discriminate on age; employer has burden of proving reasonable factor other than age in age discrimination disparate impact cases; insurer conflict of interest is factor to consider in ruling on ERISA plan claims denials; California regulation of union-related activities of state-funded employers ispreempted by National Labor Relations Act.
Supreme Court Makes ERISA Sausage
“Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” Otto von Bismarck
This quote came to mind as my fatigued late-night-blogging mind struggled through last week’s Supreme Court decision in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Assoc., Inc., et al.
The Court upheld the right of an individual participant in a 401(k) retirement plan to sue under ERISA for a breach of fiduciary duty in the plan’s administration.
Right result. But messy and costly process, argumentation, and judicial reasoning to get there (the sausagemaking).
Will YOU Be Able to Afford Retirement?
Between problems with the social security fund, and the demise of the defined retirement benefit programs, there has been a great deal of discussion lately about retirement and whether people will be able to afford to retire. Now, comes this study, reporting on how many of us will be able to afford retirement (given various [...]
Pensions and Distributed Work: An Unlikely Pair of Trend-to-Watch Topics
Sometimes I note a flurry of articles on related topics, which may point towards important trends.
The other day I was hurrying through a mass of headlines, looking for good stuff to post on the “Recent Reading” page, when I noticed two interesting pairings of articles — on pension and distributed work themes, respectively (which I [...]
