Hertz Schram PC ERISA & Pension Lawyers

Natixis Global Asset Management and CoreData Research recently released their 2017 Global Retirement Index (Index)–their fifth such Index to date assessing retirement security in 43 developed countries. The Index utilizes 18 drivers of retirement security, grouped into four categories: health, finances, quality of life, and material well being. The data respecting the United States is disappointing. From 2016 to 2017, the U.S. slipped three places in overall retirement security-from number 14 to number 17–due to increasing income inequality and declines…

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ERISA [the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which governs most private-sector pension plans] seeks to protect employees’ interests in their employer-provided pension benefits. Therefore, in order to recover pension benefits under an ERISA-governed plan, one must be an employee of the sponsoring employer. The same holds true if you work for a governmental employer; that is, you must be an employee of the governmental entity. Disputes sometimes arise when parties disagree as to whether a worker is an employee or,…

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Pension plan participants sometimes call me about a dispute they are having with the plan administrator as to whether they are vested in their pension benefits. As part of their inquiry, they want to know the rules governing pension vesting. Here are the general rules, along with a real-life example of how they worked for a caller who, after 20 years of service with the same employer, was denied a pension on the ground that she was not vested. In…

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The typical method of learning people’s financial well-being is to conduct a survey and ask them questions about their savings, assets, and income. However, people are often confused by survey questions. This is especially true when knowing what counts as income. For a number of years, the U.S. Census Bureau has conducted a survey to determine household income and poverty rates (Survey). In 2012, the Survey showed that, for persons age 65 and older, median household income was $33,800 and…

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When a pension plan participant dies, disputes sometimes arise as to the rightful beneficiary of the participant’s pension benefits. However, things get extra messy when it is discovered that the participant had TWO wives when he died! Here’s how one court sorted things out. In Ohiohealth Corp. v. Asiedu, No. 2:12-cv-761, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12637 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 19, 2017), Francis K. Afrifi participated in two pension plans administered by Ohiohealth. Mr. Afrifi passed away in 2011, leaving behind…

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According to the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, retirees are the fastest-growing segment of our population filing for bankruptcy, and 39% of bankrupt retirees do so on account of medical expenses. This sad statistic is largely attributable to (i) a lack of awareness regarding the amount of money needed to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement; (ii) misunderstandings about Medicare coverage; and (iii) failing to consult with a certified financial planner, estate planning attorney, and/or elder care attorney well before planned retirement….

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Whether a retiree has “received” his pension benefits should be a simple question to answer. Right? Not always. It all depends on what you mean by “receive,” as illustrated by the following case. In Thomason v. Metro Life Ins. Co., No. 16-10634, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 12932 (5th Cir. July 18, 2017), Joel Thomason worked for Verizon Communications and participated in its long-term disability (LTD) plan and pension plan. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) was the claims administrator for the…

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Playing hide-the-doughnut was fun when we were kids. However, it is totally unacceptable when explaining pension benefits to plan participants, as one large corporation recently learned the hard way. Osberg v. Foot Locker, Inc., No. 15-3602, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 12041 (2nd Cir. July 6, 2017). On January 1, 1996, Foot Locker converted its “traditional” defined benefit pension plan to a “cash balance plan.” Under the traditional plan, participants were entitled to a monthly annuity beginning at age 65, calculated…

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In Post #84 on my Pension Justice 4 You Facebook Page, www.facebook.com/PensionJustice4You, I explained the pension risks of signing a separation agreement that includes a broad release of claims against the employer or related persons or entities. A recent case involving $1.3 million in vested pension benefits illustrates the problem. Buster v. Comp. Comm. of Bd. Of Dirs. Of Mechs. Bank, No. C 16-101146 WHA (N.D. Ca. July 14, 2017). Steven Buster worked as president and chief executive officer for Mechanics…

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I have been a pension lawyer for well over 20 years, and typically receive 5-10 calls a day from people who believe they have a pension claim and want my help. What information do I typically need in order to properly evaluate their claim? First, I need to hear their “story” so I can obtain a clear understanding of what they are complaining about, what they want, and what they have done thus far to try to get it. Frequently,…

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