State Retirement Plan Mandates

Forcing employers to set up retirement plans for their employees through the state is supposed to be a major incentive for those companies who do not have plans but do not want to give their money to states to manage (especially in CA and NJ) to set up their own plans which, as mentioned at the last ASPPA conference, would be a boon for 401(k) TPAs.

Vestwell has a summary of which states are mandating. Here is the New Jersey law:

The History of Democracy Has Yet To Be Written

Thomas Geoghegan is a union-side labor lawyer who once ran for a House seat in Illinois and sees the Senate as the barrier to governing for the people in his book which also puts forth the novel notion that the demise of defined-benefit pension plans led to the ascension of Trump, with more to come.

SFA Revision and Update

The PBGC Special Financial Assistance program for troubled multiemployer plans had another plan revise their application. There is no copy of the revised application yet but the summary page shows the Teamsters Local 641 Pension Plan now asking for an additional $15 million.

A5998: Grant’s Pension Bill

The bill to grant Judge Glenn A. Grant the ability to defer his retirement and remain as administrative director of the New Jersey courts is on the Assembly docket for rubber stamping this Thursday.

NFL Benefits

Chapter 5 of When the Cheering Stops is on pensions and benefits that National Football League (NFL) players get. Below are excerpts and a look at the funded status of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan.

The C List

For anyone who may have had their intestine and maybe other organs removed, good news in this book.

Democrats want to rescue union pensions from party’s failed bailout plan

Excerpts from an article that appeared in The Hill over the weekend written by Aharon Friedman, director and senior tax counsel at the Federal Policy Group.

SFA Winding Road

The Road Carriers Local 707 Pension Fund , which became the first plan to seek bailout money under the PBGC Special Financial Assistance program for troubled multiemployer plans as well as the first plan to withdraw their application, probably due to the use of 5.32% as the SFA Interest rate instead of 5.38%, have refiled and are now asking for either $4 million more or $12 million less depending on whether you go with the SFA summary page or Sheet 4-3 from their application.

They are not alone as seven of the twenty plans that have applied show differences between what they have on their 4-3 sheets and what the PBGC summarizes as what they are requesting.

707 Back On SFA Road

The Road Carriers Local 707 Pension Fund , which became the first plan to seek bailout money under the PBGC Special Financial Assistance program for troubled multiemployer plans as well as the first plan to withdraw their application, probably due to the use of 5.32% as the SFA Interest rate instead of 5.38%, have refiled and are now asking for $4 million more.

LGT(1): Civil Litigation Handbook

This is a series I have been wanting to do for years and a letter I received the day after election day this year spurred me to it as I now have a second tale to tell on the subject. What LGT stands for should be obvious after a while but let’s start with my default reaction to most problems: research, and among the sources I consulted this book has, so far, been the most helpful as well as the youtube at the end from njcourts.