11/26/98: On this Thanksgiving Day, let us give thanks for:- The retirement security that federal law provides for employees of employers who have decided to install pension plans, especially
- The requirement that employers place pension contributions in a trust fund so that the bankruptcy of the employer will not result in loss of the pension contributions
- The requirement that pension plans be reduced to enforceable written contracts and that employees be provided a booklet that summarizes the principal provisions of those contracts
- The ability of pension plan participants to obtain assistance from a federal agency or seek redress in federal court when an employer -- thankfully, rarely -- wrongfully refuses to provide a promised benefit
- The ability of multistate employers to provide a pension program that is governed by a single set of federal standards rather than the rules of 50 different jurisdictions
- The elimination of vesting rules that required continuous service until retirement age, on pains of a complete forfeiture due to a break in service of any length
- The existence of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to assure participants of a certain minimum pension in the event a defined benefit-type plan's investments do not perform as well as projected or an employer fails to fully fund such a plan
- The ability of employers to decide whether to offer a pension or other benefit plan as part of its compensation package (or whether its employees want and need other forms of compensation), or to bargain about the provision and extent of those benefits with unions
- The exceedingly generous federal income tax benefits that are afforded to payments made by employers to provide employees with pension plans, group health plans and other forms of employee benefits
- The exceedingly generous federal income tax benefits that are afforded to participating employees, who do not have to pay income tax on the value of group health coverage or the payments made to health care providers under those plans, and who do not have to pay income tax on pension contributions made on their behalf -- even if fully vested when made -- until they are actually withdrawn and spent many years later
- An economy that is healthy enough for most employers to be able to provide employees with compensation in non-cash forms, including pension, health and other benefit plan coverage
- A political process and Constitution that allows employers, employees, unions, service-providers and others to participate in the continued refinement and revision of the rules that govern employee benefit plans
- The willingness of most individuals to spend more waking time at their workplaces on behalf of their employers than they spend with their families, enabling their firms to provide goods and services needed by other people
- The willingness of employers to spend the time and money needed to determine how to comply with complicated federal rules from several different agencies and statutes, so that an employee can receive a benefit package without the need to determine from scratch how to prepare financially for his or her own retirement, health, disability or death
Amen.
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