To raise private savings for workers' retirement, federal law provides tax incentives for contributions to pension plans. Company sponsors of private defined benefit (DB) pension plans can claim a tax deduction for their contribution amount to a tax-qualified pension plan, and employees' taxes on contributions and investment earnings are deferred until they retire and start receiving benefit payments. Some plan sponsors have designed ways to indirectly transfer some of these nontax-qualified supplemental executive benefits into their existing tax-qualified DB plans. In effect, plans accomplish this by increasing the benefits under the qualified plan, with an offsetting reduction in the benefits under the nonqualified plan, which extends to the HCE the security of DB plan funding and the tax benefits of a qualified plan. These arrangements, commonly referred to as Qualified Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (QSERP), can provide HCEs with a higher qualified benefit amount, the tax advantages provided by a qualified plan, as well as the increased benefit security provided by the backing of qualified plan assets. Since QSERPs are provided to HCEs, but are funded by the assets used to pay qualified plan benefits for all employees, some observers have questioned whether these arrangements affect the benefits promised to NHCEs. examine several aspects of QSERP arrangements. This report addresses (1) what is known about the prevalence and design of QSERP arrangements and to what extent recent economic conditions have influenced plan sponsors implementing these arrangements; (2) the key regulatory and statutory issues associated with these arrangements; and (3) the implications of these arrangements for involved parties, including the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). Figures. This is a print on demand report.
As life expectancy increases, the risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge. The shift from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans also increases the responsibility for workers and retirees to make difficult decisions and manage their pension and other financial assets so that they have income throughout retirement. This report reviewed (1) strategies that experts recommend retirees employ to ensure income throughout retirement, (2) choices retirees have made for managing their pension and financial assets for generating income, and (3) policy options available to ensure income throughout retirement and their advantages and disadvantages. The report interviewed experts about strategies retirees should take; analyzed nationally representative data and studies about retirees' decisions; and interviewed experts and reviewed documents about related policy options. Figures and tables. This is a print on demand report.
As the life expectancy of Americans continues to increase, the risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge. Today, couples both aged 62 have a 47 % chance that at least one of them will live to their 90th birthday. In addition to the risk of outliving ones' assets, the sharp declines in financial markets and home equity during the last few years and the continued increase in health care costs have intensified workers' concerns about having enough savings and how to best manage those savings in retirement. This report examines: (1) options retirees have for drawing on financial assets to replace pre-retirement income and options retirees choose; and (2) how pensions, annuities and other retirement savings vehicles are regulated. Illustrations.
Despite sizable tax incentives, private pension participation has remained at about 50 percent of the workforce. For those in a pension plan, there is concern that these incentives accrue primarily to higher income employees and do relatively little to help lower income workers save for retirement. This report examined: (1) recent trends in new private pension plan formation; (2) the characteristics of defined contribution plan participants contributing at or above statutory limits; (3) how suggested options to modify an existing credit for low-income workers might affect their retirement income; and (4) the long-term effects of the recent financial crisis on retirement savings. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.
Statement of Charles Jeszeck, Dir., Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, GAO. Multiemployer pension plans -- created by collective bargaining agreements including more than one employer -- cover more than 10 million workers and retirees, and are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s (PBGC). As a result of investment market declines, employers withdrawing from plans and demographic challenges in recent years, many multiemployer plans have had large funding shortfalls and face an uncertain future. Also, both PBGC’s single-employer and multiemployer insurance programs are on GAO’s list of high-risk federal programs. This testimony provides information on (1) recent actions that multiemployer plans in the worst financial condition have taken to improve their funding levels; and (2) the extent to which plans have relied on PBGC assistance since 2009, and the financial condition of PBGC’s multiemployer plan insurance program. Figures. This is a print on demand report.
An analysis of available data on pension consultants and plans revealed a statistical association between inadequate disclosure and lower investment returns for ongoing plans, suggesting the possible adverse financial effect of such nondisclosure. The econometric analysis detected lower annual rates of return for those ongoing plans associated with consultants that had failed to disclose significant conflicts of interest. These lower rates ranged from a statistically significant 1.2-1.3 % points over the 2000-04 period. The avg. returns for ongoing plans that used consultants who failed to disclose significant conflicts was 3.2-3.3% for the period. This finding suggests the importance of detecting the presence of conflicts among pension plan consultants. Illus.
401(k) plan sponsors offer an array of appropriate investment options; participants direct their investments among those options. While participants expect to be able to switch investment options or withdraw money from their accounts, during the recent economic downturn, some 401(k) plan sponsors and participants found that they were restricted from doing so. This report: (1) identifies some of the specific investments and practices that prevented plan sponsors and participants from accessing their 401(k) plan assets; and (2) determines any changes the Dept. of Labor could make to assist sponsors in understanding the challenges posed by the investments and practices that restricted withdrawals. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.
Intermodal transportation terminals -- locations where multiple modes or types of passengers or cargo transportation connect and merge -- are potentially high value targets for terrorists. For ex., NYCs Penn Station functions as an intermodal hub (IH) for Amtrak, 2 main commuter rail lines, and 6 subway routes. The Transport. Security Admin. (TSA) has responsibility for securing the aviation and surface transport. sectors (ASTS). This report addresses the following questions: (1) To what extent has TSA taken actions to ensure that efforts to strengthen the security of the ASTS are based on a risk mgmt. framework, esp. those that include IH? (2) To what extent has TSA taken actions to ensure the security of the ASTS, esp. those actions that involve IH?
Millions of children in this country work, & the agricultural industry, although generally agreed to be one of the most dangerous, employs a proportionately larger number of these children than other industries. This report presents information on (1) the extent & prevalence of child labor in agriculture; (2) the legislative protections available to children working in agriculture; (3) the enforcement of these protections as they apply to children working in agriculture; & (4) how federal educational assistance programs address the needs of children in migrant & seasonal agricultural. Charts & tables.
It is estimated that as of FY 2009 the total alien -- non-U.S.-citizen -- population was about 25.3 million, incl. about 10.8 million aliens without lawful immigration status. Some aliens have been convicted and incarcerated (criminal aliens). The fed. gov¿t. bears these incarceration costs for federal prisons and reimburses states and localities for portions of their costs. This report addresses: (1) the number and nationalities of incarcerated criminal aliens; (2) the types of offenses for which criminal aliens were arrested and convicted; and (3) the costs associated with incarcerating criminal aliens and the extent to which the Dept. of Justice's methodology for reimbursing states and localities for incarcerating criminal aliens is current. A print on demand report.
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