Provides information about the basic features of the private pension plan system & the federal framework that governs how private plans must operate. This private pensions primer includes questions & answers about the types of plans that private employers may sponsor, the benefits these plans provide, & the basic requirements that govern how these plans are administered. The answers are intended to be clear, concise, & easy-to-understand. Although the primer summarizes & explains some of the fundamental aspects of private pension plans, the material does not provide a complete technical interpretation regarding the many complexities of these plans or all of the rules & requirements that govern these plans. Charts & tables.

Individual retirement accounts (IRAs), established by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (PL 93-406) to promote retirement saving, were limited at first to workers (and spouses) who lacked employer pension coverage. Income tax was deferred on both contribution and investment earnings. Annual contributions were limited to the smaller of $1,500 or 15% of earnings. Eligibility was expanded to all workers and their spouses by the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (PL 97-34). Annual contributions were limited to the smaller of $2,000 or 100% earnings. The Tax Reform Act Reform Act of 1986 (PL 99-514) continued tax deferral for IRA earnings, but it limited tax deferrals for contributions to those from: (1) tax filers with no employer plan (for either spouse); and (2) filers with employer pension coverage but whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is below specified limits. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (PL 105-34) increased these AGI limits, allowed penalty-free early withdrawals for higher education expenses and first-home purchases, and authorised a new 'Roth IRA' to provide tax-free income from after-tax contributions and untaxed investment earnings. This book reviews the key details concerning these legal arrangements for retirement.

A crisis is looming for baby boomers and anyone else who hopes to retire in the coming years. In When I'm Sixty-Four, Teresa Ghilarducci, the nation's leading authority on the economics of retirement, explains how to confront this crisis head-on, revealing the causes behind the increasingly precarious economics of old age in America and proposing a bold plan to guarantee retirement security for every working citizen. Retirement is one of the hallmarks of a prosperous, civilized market economy. Yet in America today Social Security is on the ropes. Government and employers are dismantling pension security, forcing older people to work longer. The federal government spends billions in exemptions for 401(k)s and other voluntary retirement accounts, yet retirement savings for most workers is falling. Ghilarducci takes an unflinching look at the eroding economic structure of retirement in America--and what she finds is alarming. She exposes the failures of pension regulators and the false hopes of privatized Social Security. She tells the ugly truth about risky 401(k) plans, do-it-yourself retirement schemes, and companies like Enron that have left employees without any retirement savings. Ghilarducci puts forward a sweeping plan to revive the retirement-income system, a plan that will ensure that, after forty years of work, every American will receive 70 percent of their preretirement earnings, guaranteed for life. No other book makes such a persuasive case for overhauling the pension and Social Security system in order to provide older Americans with the financial stability they have earned and deserve.

Despite sizable tax incentives, private pension participation has remained at about 50 percent of the workforce. For those in a pension plan, there is concern that these incentives accrue primarily to higher income employees and do relatively little to help lower income workers save for retirement. This report examined: (1) recent trends in new private pension plan formation; (2) the characteristics of defined contribution plan participants contributing at or above statutory limits; (3) how suggested options to modify an existing credit for low-income workers might affect their retirement income; and (4) the long-term effects of the recent financial crisis on retirement savings. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.