Retirement accounts

Funding Status of Typical Corporate Plan Tops 80 Percent

BOSTON, October 6, 2009 — U.S. stocks rose for the seventh consecutive month, helping to increase the funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan by 0.6 percentage points in September, according to monthly statistics published by BNY Mellon Asset Management. The funded status of the typical plan increased to 80.3 percent at the end of September, up from 79.7 percent at the end of August, according to the BNY Mellon statistics.    » read more »

Crapo-Johnson bill defers taxes on mutual fund investments

May 20, 2009 -- Washington, DC. – People investing for retirement through the use of mutual funds should not pay capital gains taxes until those shares are sold, according to Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota).

To keep retirement savings earning more money for a longer period of time, Crapo and Johnson have introduced the GROWTH (Generating Retirement Ownership Through Long-Term Holding) Act.    » read more »

04/08/2008 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement regarding AB 2940, legislation that allows small businesses and workers to set up individual retirement accounts (IRAs) through CalPERS if they currently do not have pensions or retirement accounts through their jobs:

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: Photo courtesy California Governor's office

"Having a financially secure retirement is part of the American Dream and this bill will help that dream come true for millions of hard-working Californians and their families.    » read more »

March 28, 2008 -- The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is modernizing the paper-intensive processes and antiquated information systems it uses to support the retirement of civilian federal employees through the Retirement Systems Modernization (RSM) program.

In January 2008, we reported on the agency's management of this program, in which we noted concerns and made recommendations for improvement in four key areas: (1) system testing, (2) system defect resolution, (3) program cost estimation, and (4) program earned value management.    » read more »

3/25/2008 -- At a town hall in Greensburg, Hillary Clinton outlined her plan to help families in Pennsylvania have a secure retirement. Her proposals would help families save, strengthen defined benefit pensions, and strengthen Social Security and Medicare for future generations. Through her American Retirement Accounts Plan, Hillary Clinton would offer 3.4 million Pennsylvania families up to $1,000 in a matching tax cut to save. In addition, Hillary Clinton said she would shore up employer-sponsored pensions pledged to protect Social Security from Bush-McCain privatization efforts.    » read more »

March 19, 2008 -- Members of Generations X and Y, acknowledging that they need to pick up the slack when it comes to planning for their futures, are thinking about retirement and have defined financial goals according to a report released today by the Divided We Fail group (AARP, Business Roundtable, National Federation of Independent Business and the Service Employees International Union) and the American Savings Education Council (ASEC).    » read more »

February 8, 2008 -- LANSING – With Michigan investors preparing to open or contribute to their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) before the Tax Day deadline on April 15th, Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services (OFIS) Acting Commissioner Ken Ross warned them that their retirement savings are in danger of being ruined by investment schemes falsely promoted as "IRA Approved" or endorsed by the IRS.    » read more »

December 6, 2007, Juneau, Alaska - Alaska Governor Palin today announced the filing of a lawsuit by Attorney General Talis Colberg and the Department of Law against Mercer (US) Inc., the former actuary for Alaska’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) pension plans. The lawsuit seeks more than $1.8 billion in damages from Mercer for mistakes in calculating the pension plans’ expected liabilities, including mistaken actuarial assumptions and methods about future health care costs, and basic mathematical and technical errors.    » read more »

Obama's Discusses Plan to Strengthen Retirement Security and Reclaim American Dream

November 08, 2007 -- Des Moines, IA -- At a roundtable discussion in Ottumwa, Senator Barack Obama today discussed his plan to reclaim the American Dream by strengthening retirement security, providing incentives to increase personal savings and ensuring retirees receive the benefits earned from a lifetime of hard work.    » read more »

More than half of Nevada families to benefit from Clinton’s American Retirement Accounts Plan

10/12/2007 -- Today, Hillary Clinton announced a bold new Universal 401(k) retirement savings plan which will help hundreds of thousands of middle class Nevada families save and build wealth for their future. Along with her commitment to protecting Social Security, Hillary’s plan will tackle the current retirement savings crisis by helping ensure that all Americans can afford a dignified retirement.    » read more »

10/9/2007 -- Today, Hillary Clinton announced a bold new American Retirement Accounts plan with generous matching tax cuts that—alongside her efforts to strengthen defined benefit pension plans—will help tens of millions of middle class families build wealth for their future. Building on her commitment to protect the guaranteed benefit of Social Security, Hillary’s American Retirement Accounts plan will tackle the current retirement savings crisis by helping ensure that all Americans can afford a dignified retirement.    » read more »