My crystal ball is certainly no better than anyone else's in forecasting just about anything (just look at my NFL football pool results), let alone how the U.S. equity market is going to perform over the next day, week, month,...

The following note was written by the IBEW Media Center, and it highlights the same concerns that I've shared with readers of this blog. This proposed "rescue" plan would, in fact, be the death knell for multiemployer pensions, as no...

The U.S. economy seems to be steadying at this point following some signs of weakness earlier in 2019. But, to describe the economic performance as robust is an exaggeration, yet that is what I continue to read in a number...

The U.S. defined benefit pensions have enjoyed a good performance run during the last 10 years. Funded status has improved for a majority of plans, although contribution expenses continue to rise. Is it time to take some risk off the...

We've been suggesting that moving employees from defined benefit plans (DB) to defined contribution plans (DC) forces participants with little skill to become portfolio managers, even if all they are doing is picking a target-date fund. New research supports the...

Just who does the HELPER Act help? Senator Rand Paul (R, KY) has put forward a startling proposal that proclaims to help our struggling students with their student loan debt. But does it? We do have a massive student loan...

I've written a lot on this subject, so I suspect that you would prefer another point of view. Here are the words from Cecil Roberts, International President for the UMWA on the subject of the Grassley-Alexander proposal. Grassley-Alexander multi-employer pension...

Headline after headline promotes the idea that the U.S. economy has a historically low unemployment rate that currently sits at 3.6%, with only September's reading of 3.5% lower in the last 40+years. However, according to a Brookings Institute study, nearly...

Why must politicians always complicate a problem that has a rather simple solution? H.R. 397 passed the House with bipartisan support in July. Unfortunately, nothing has been done in the Senate to pass this important legislation needed to protect the...

Two Republican Senators have responded to the Butch Lewis Act (H.R. 397) that passed through the House in July with their own retirement proposal. I'm so glad that I haven't been holding my breath in anticipation that the counter proposal...