About PBGC

As Josh Gotbaum pointed out in a recent Newsday op-ed, Americans are living longer and need to prepare for longer retirements.

Social Security also has to get ready.

As reported by US News, here are some data points relevant to Social Security’s finances: More...

A court decision this week will help PBGC keep employers accountable for pension plans, even when the employer is foreign-owned.

In 2007 Japanese company Asahi Tec bought Metaldyne, a Michigan auto parts maker. When Metaldyne went bankrupt in 2009, we asked Asahi Tec to step up and assume the pensions of Metaldyne’s 10,000 workers and retirees. Asahi Tec refused. More...

Since 1872, Christ Hospital has provided health care services to Hudson County, N.J. Like many hospitals around the country during the recent financial downturn, Christ Hospital saw growing numbers of uninsured and charity patients come through its doors. People got the care they needed, but at the expense of the hospital’s bottom line. Finally, mounting financial losses, combined with state budget cuts and other reverses, forced the hospital to seek bankruptcy protection.

Fortunately, the hospital will continue to serve the community under a new owner. But what about the pensions of the 2,500 caregivers and other staff? Well, PBGC has got them covered. More...

Each year the folks at the Employee Benefit Research Institute gather data on retirement across the whole country. EBRI’s 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey tells the story of retirement security today.

For instance, only 14 percent of Americans feel “very confident” they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. Sixty percent of households have less than $25,000 in savings.

The survey also shows more people expect to work longer: 37 percent expect to retire after age 65, up from 11 percent in 1991. But those plans don’t always work out: Half the retirees surveyed had to leave work earlier than expected due to health problems or downsizing.

For the complete survey, and a lot more information on retirement issues, go to www.ebri.org.

See the string of messages on the right side of this blog page? That’s PBGC’s Twitter feed.

We use Twitter to spotlight our day-to-day efforts to protect pensions. When you sign up, you’ll get quick bits of information to keep you in the know about PBGC. And each day you’ll learn a new fact about pensions and retirement security. More...