The Pension Book

The Pension Book PDF Author: Karen Ferguson
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 9781559703314
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 588

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Book Description
Every pension plan has its fine print. Using case studies from the Pension Rights Center, Ferguson and Blackwell show what everyone in a private plan needs to know: how and when their pension will vest; how much their benefit will be; and whether it is adjusted for inflation. Is the plan overfunded or underfunded? Will it survive should the company change hands or go bankrupt? And what happens in the event of death or divorce? Each chapter tackling these subjects is followed by a "What to Do" section in which the authors demonstrate, point by point, how we can take charge of our retirement future. No retirement plan? You're not alone. Half of all Americans have no plan other than social security, and this venerable system - never intended to cover all retirement needs - typically pays people 40 percent of what they were earning when they worked. Or maybe you're in a do-it-yourself savings plan. Increasingly, employers are substituting these plans for traditional pensions. Again, Ferguson and Blackwell provide practical suggestions and reliable advice about the pros and cons of IRAs, 401(k)s, and the other tax-sheltered savings arrangements.

The Pension Book

The Pension Book PDF Author: Karen Ferguson
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 9781559703314
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 588

Get Book

Book Description
Every pension plan has its fine print. Using case studies from the Pension Rights Center, Ferguson and Blackwell show what everyone in a private plan needs to know: how and when their pension will vest; how much their benefit will be; and whether it is adjusted for inflation. Is the plan overfunded or underfunded? Will it survive should the company change hands or go bankrupt? And what happens in the event of death or divorce? Each chapter tackling these subjects is followed by a "What to Do" section in which the authors demonstrate, point by point, how we can take charge of our retirement future. No retirement plan? You're not alone. Half of all Americans have no plan other than social security, and this venerable system - never intended to cover all retirement needs - typically pays people 40 percent of what they were earning when they worked. Or maybe you're in a do-it-yourself savings plan. Increasingly, employers are substituting these plans for traditional pensions. Again, Ferguson and Blackwell provide practical suggestions and reliable advice about the pros and cons of IRAs, 401(k)s, and the other tax-sheltered savings arrangements.

Pensions in the Public Sector

Pensions in the Public Sector PDF Author: Olivia S. Mitchell
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812235784
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 692

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Book Description
From the Pension Research Council of the Wharton School, this book explores the diversity of governmental pension plans and investigates how these financial institutions must change in years to come.

Pension Design and Structure

Pension Design and Structure PDF Author: Olivia S. Mitchell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199273391
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Employees are increasingly asked to make sophisticated decisions about their pension and healthcare plans. Yet recent research shows that the decisions 'real' people make are often not those of the careful and well-informed economic agent conventionally portrayed in economic research. Rather, decision-makers tend to operate with flawed information and make some of the most critical financial decisions of their lives lacking a full understanding of the options before them and theimplications of their decisions.Pension Design and Structure explores the assumptions behind commonly-held theories of retirement decision-making, in order to draw out the consequences of frontier research in behavioral finance and economics for those interested in better design and structure of retirement pensions. Using large datasets newly provided by financial service firms and real-world experiments, this volume tests the hypotheses of this research.This is the first book to explore the implications of behavioral finance research for pensions and retirement studies. The authors blend cutting-edge research from several fields including Finance, Economics, Management, Sociology, and Psychology. The book will be of interest to pension plan participants and sponsors, financial service groups responsible for pensions, and retirement system regulators.

A History of Public Sector Pensions in the United States

A History of Public Sector Pensions in the United States PDF Author: Robert Louis Clark
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812237146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
From the Wharton School, offering a comprehensive assessment of the political and financial dimensions of public-sector pensions from the colonial period until the emergence of modern retirement plans in the twentieth century.

Positioning Pensions for the Twenty-First Century

Positioning Pensions for the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: Michael S. Gordon
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812233919
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
As the United States comes to terms with the pending insolvency of social security, workers are increasingly pinning their hopes for retirement adequacy on employer-sponsored plans. Positioning Pensions for the Twenty-First Century analyzes the role of pensions in retirement security, examining how these programs will evolve to meet the challenges to our nation's retirement system. The book brings together a team of leading economists, corporate and labor specialists, actuaries, and policy experts to examine the future of retirement options within the context of emerging labor and business trends and innovative developments in the pension community. They show how a successful public and private pension system can be sustained and strengthened and demonstrate how employer pensions can be configured against a delicately financed social insurance system. The book's contributions examine where pensions have succeeded and failed over the last several decades and point to positive new developments in the pension arena. Its coverage includes innovative pension options such as hybrid and cash-balance plans; pension funding regulations; changes in GATT laws altering pension insurance premiums; and emerging developments concerning administrative costs and pension obligation bonds. It also features new research on defined contribution plan investment options and includes three case studies of participant-directed pension investments, telling how thousands of workers are allocating their pension savings in 401(k) and related plans. Positioning Pensions for the Twenty-First Century is essential reading for all managers, employees, and policymakers concerned with designing pension systems that can withstand the challenges of the next decade.

Managing Pension Plans

Managing Pension Plans PDF Author: Dennis E. Logue
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780875847917
Category : Pension trusts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Pension funds are big business. They are important to employers, employees, governments, and society at large. With the increasing concern over dwindling retirement pension fund crises, managing pension plans has never been more critical--and the pressure on those who are responsible for them has only intensified. Destined to become the classic resource on pension plan management, Managing Pension Plans explains everything you need to know for successful management of any pension plan--from how pension plans help sponsors manage their workforces to the latest in investment and risk management. With concise and practical Managing Pensions Plans is an indispensable resource for pension fund trustees, boards of directors, managers, and administrators of both public and private pension plans as well as for the money management firms, consultants, actuaries, and accountants who serve the pension fund industry. Logue and Rader, two of the world's leading experts on the subject, explain all the financial, legal, economic, accounting, and managerial issues that those who make pension fund decisions must juggle--in language that non-financial managers can understand, yet with sufficient depth to be useful to financial managers as well. The authors synthesize the latest in capital market and financial economics research to help those involved in pension management improve their decision-making in all the critical areas. In addition, the book describes in detail the responsibilities of fiduciaries, revealing how to be both a prudent fiduciary and a capable decision maker. Managing Pension Plans offers candid advice on how pension managers can improve fund performance by being more effective shareholders. As pension fund management and performance increasingly affect the success of organizations as a whole, this book will be indispensable to anyone--from fund analysts to board members-who influences pension fund decisions.

Social Security, Medicare, and Pensions

Social Security, Medicare, and Pensions PDF Author: J. L. Matthews
Publisher: NOLO
ISBN: 9780873374873
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Covers retirement, disability, survivor and health care benefits.

Living with Defined Contribution Pensions

Living with Defined Contribution Pensions PDF Author: Olivia S. Mitchell
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812234398
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Table of Contents

State and Local Pensions

State and Local Pensions PDF Author: Alicia H. Munnell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0815724136
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Elected officials, academic experts, and the media alike have pointed to funding shortfalls with alarm, expressing concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause. Alicia H. Munnell draws on both her practical experience and her research to provide a broad perspective on the challenge of state and local pensions. She shows that the story is big and complicated and cannot be viewed through a narrow prism such as accounting methods or the role of unions. By examining the diversity of the public plan universe, Munnell debunks the notion that all plans are in trouble. In fact, she finds that while a few plans are basket cases, many are functioning reasonably well. Munnell's analysis concludes that the plans in serious trouble need a major overhaul. But even the relatively healthy plans face three challenges ahead: an excessive concentration of plan assets in equities; the risk that steep benefit cuts for new hires will harm workforce quality; and the constraints plans face in adjusting future benefits for current employees. Here, Munnell proposes solutions that preserve the main strengths of state and local pensions while promoting needed reforms.

Public Policy Toward Pensions

Public Policy Toward Pensions PDF Author: Sylvester J. Schieber
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262193870
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
According to Schieber and Shoven, pension policy will emerge as one of the key economic issues of the next decade. This book provides a guide to the debate.Public and private pensions control almost a quarter of the United States' tangible wealth--equivalent to all of the country's residential real estate. They account for most current saving in the country, are a crucial component of household retirement resources, and have significant effects on labor market mobility and efficiency. Collectively, they hold a tremendous proportion of all common stock. The stock market has boomed during the past decade, as baby boomers have rapidly accumulated pension assets. Now economists are starting to wonder what will happen when the baby boomers retire. It is already clear that the Social Security system will require drastic changes to remain solvent. Will the stock market experience a similar meltdown as baby boomers withdraw their assets from pension plans? What policies might help to avoid such a crisis? According to Schieber and Shoven, pension policy will emerge as one of the key economic issues of the next decade. This book provides a guide to the debate. Topics include the impact of pensions on personal and national saving, the potential for a Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation financial crisis, the dramatic growth in 401(k) plans, public sector plants, the prospects for adequate retirement income in the future, and recommended directions for pension policies. The book contains ten chapters, four written by Schieber and Shoven.ContributorsRobert Clark, Ping-Lung Hsin, Olivia Mitchell, James Poterba, Andrew Samwick, Jonathan Skinner, Steven Venti, Carolyn Weaver, David Wise, and Elisa Wolper.