Congress has played the Grinch this holiday season for some retirees. Tucked into the federal spending bill were provisions that will allow certain struggling multiemployer pension plans to reduce benefits already being received by retirees. The move was a result of an alarm from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. that some multiemployer plans — covering more than 1 million participants — are substantially underfunded and, without legislative changes, would probably fail. The deficit for PBGC’s multiemployer insurance program has jumped to $42.4 billion, up from $8.3 billion last year. In all, multiemployer plans provide benefits to more than 10 million workers and retirees in industries such as building and construction, retail, manufacturing, trucking and transportation. The PBGC said it has enough assets to meet the needs of plans currently in trouble, but there are insufficient funds to cover benefits for plans expected to run out of money in coming years. ~ Now those troubled multiemployer plans that estimate they won’t have enough money to pay 100 percent of benefits within 15 or 20 years can cut benefits, according to the Pension Rights Center. Retirees who are 80 or older or who receive a disability pension can’t have their benefits reduced. For retirees 75 to 79, the cuts will be smaller than those who are under 75.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:56:35 +0000
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