We’re starting a new series here at Defined Benefit. “This Week in Pensions” will gather the best stories about pensions from the previous week. This will be your go-to source for the news you need to know about retirement security. Be sure and check back here every Friday afternoon for your weekly roundup of pension news.
Here are this week’s best stories about pensions:
- The Big Short and Your Retirement by Bailey Childers: NPPC’s Executive Director looks back on the financial crisis and the lasting damage it did to many pension funds.
- 401(k) Plans’ Inefficiency Struggles Will Grow by Dan Doonan: National Education Association economist Dan Doonan examines the failure of 401(k) plans to provide a secure retirement over their 35 year history and why we shouldn’t expect that to change.
- Redouble Pension Commitment by Hank Kim: writing in the Lincoln Journal-Star, NCPERS Executive Director Hank Kim urges Lincoln’s Pension Review Committee to reject the recommendations of former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and stick with defined benefit pensions for police officers and firefighters.
- A Shortage of Teachers and Other Public Servants by David Banner: Utah firefighter David Banner notes in the Deseret News that Utah is beginning to experience the negative effects of harmful pension cuts enacted by the state legislature in 2010.
- No Need to Fix a Retirement Plan That’s Working by Richard Rogers: the Executive Director of the North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees’ Association warns against moving North Carolina’s teachers and state employees from a successful defined benefit pension to an unreliable defined contribution 401(k)-style plan.