NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – American Airlines is
heading toward the largest default of a defined-benefit pension
plan in U.S. history.

It’s a messy story involving 130,000 covered workers, four
underfunded pension plans, bankruptcy court proceedings and
negotiations with unions and a government agency.

By Mark Miller

(Reuters) – The remaining major Republican presidential contenders managed to escape their debate prior to yesterday’s Florida primary without being asked to answer a single question about Social Security. That’s remarkable, considering the state’s aging population and the outlandish statements the candidates have made about the program.

But they aren’t the only ones getting a pass on the subject. President Obama mentioned Social Security briefly during his State of the Union address last week, but his comments raised more questions than they answered.

By Mark Miller

(Reuters) – If you own a small business, the time to comparison-shop for 401k plans has never been better. Low-cost plans are cropping up, as new federal regulations kicking in this year call for greater disclosure of fee information to plan participants and sponsors.

The numbers should be a real eye-opener. Fees vary widely among retirement plans — anywhere from well below 1 percentage point to a whopping 5 percent. Yet 71 percent of retirement savers don’t think they pay any investment fees at all, according to a recent AARP survey.

By Mark Miller

(Reuters) – Mary Rich worked for a hospital in northern New Jersey for 25 years, first as a registered nurse and later as an executive. One of the job’s benefits was a traditional pension that she expected to receive at retirement.

Now that benefit seems unlikely to be around by the time she retires.

Rich’s financially troubled former employer, the Hospital Center at Orange (HCO), shut down in 2004. The pension plan currently has $5.25 million in assets, which are being distributed at the rate of $2.7 million per year. By the time Rich reaches retirement 12 years from now, the money will be gone.

By Mark Miller

(Reuters) – Most seniors on Medicare will pay $99.90 per month this year for Part B outpatient coverage. But how would you like to pay 10 percent more for that coverage, or 50 percent more?

Failing to sign up for Medicare at the right time can cost you – big time. The monthly Part B premium jumps 10 percent for each full 12-month period that a senior could have had coverage but didn’t sign up. A mistake can be costly; someone who fails to enroll for five years would face a 50 percent Part B penalty – 10 percent for each year of delay. That penalty is permanent, and can translate into thousands of dollars in unnecessary lifetime penalty expenses; a headache no one needs on top of already soaring healthcare costs.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – When the oldest baby boomers start turning 66 this year, they’ll be eligible to file for full Social Security benefits. But pollsters say many Americans plan to work well past that age, reflecting tough economic times and a general desire to reshape the idea of retirement.

What will working longer mean for the Social Security benefits of these seniors? How about Medicare, which has filing rules that are closely linked to those of Social Security and employment status?

Jan 12 (Reuters) – Young investors spooked by market
volatility are continuing to shun equities (see). But is that any reason not to
be thinking about saving for a secure retirement at a young
age?

Absolutely not. A survey by Reuters of several dozen top
retirement experts reinforces the importance of starting early
for this simple reason: Time is on your side. Workers in their
twenties and thirties have plenty of time to benefit from the
magic of compound returns and to allow the market to bounce
through its usual ups and downs.

By Mark Miller

(Reuters) – Here’s a political proposal that sounds reasonable: Fix struggling government entitlement programs by cutting the benefits of rich people, who don’t need them anyway. How about it, Jon Huntsman?

“Well, let me just say on entitlements – across the board, I will tell the upper income category in this country that there will be means testing,” Huntsman said in one of the New Hampshire GOP Presidential debates last weekend.

Jan 6 (Reuters) – Today’s report on unemployment shows that
the economy continues to gather steam – payrolls grew by
200,000 and the jobless rate ticked downward again, to 8.5
percent.

But young Americans are having a much tougher time finding
work than older workers. The seasonally-adjusted jobless rate
for workers over age 55 stood at 6.2 percent last month,
compared with 9.4 percent for workers age 25 to 34.

By Mark Miller

(Reuters) – The Republican Party has staged a mind-numbing 18 presidential debates this year, and more questions and answers lie ahead as the primaries and general election get into high gear in the new year.

The future of Social Security and Medicare will be central issues in the 2012 election. The ongoing debate about income inequality also is tied to retirement policy, since the erosion in middle class wages affects 401(k) savings, pension benefits and the ability to retire at all.