Administration September 23, 2011

ERIC Pushes Back on PBGC Premium Proposal

September 23, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – An employer industry trade group has pushed back on a proposal that could result in higher pension premiums for employers.

 

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In a letter to members of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee – the new congressional committee responsible for deficit reduction legislation – the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) urged rejection of the Administration’s proposal (see Obama Proposes PBGC Premium Hikes) to allow the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to determine the variable rate premiums paid by private sector sponsors of pension plans as well as the authority to determine the creditworthiness of the companies that voluntarily offer pension plans to their workers.

According to an announcement, ERIC charged that the increase in premiums is in fact a 100% tax increase on many companies that voluntarily offer their workers defined benefit pension plans, and that the proposed premium increases are unnecessary. 

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“We’re experiencing one of the most dangerous economic disorders in history; now is not the time to add new and unnecessary burdens on companies that voluntarily provide pension plans for their workers,” added Mark Ugoretz, President and CEO of ERIC in a press release.

Ugoretz said that even as a revenue measure, this proposal fails, since it will drive more companies out of the pension system, eliminating the PBGC’s “customer base and their premiums.”

ERIC particularly opposes the authority of the PBGC to determine its own premium especially based on its own determination of the credit worthiness of its premium payers.  “It’s a direct conflict of interest,”  Ugoretz said.  ERIC said that in the private sector, a company can choose among insurers or even whether to insure, but when it comes to pensions, the law requires that plan sponsors insure their plans with the PBGC and the PBGC needs oversight.  Currently, Congress ultimately oversees the PBGC and determines its premium; ERIC urged that congressional oversight should continue.   

ERIC cautioned that, under the proposal, companies that voluntarily sponsor pension plans would be subject to the PBGC effectively making a determination of the company’s credit-worthiness that would affect investor decisions, while the plan sponsor’s similarly situated competitors would not be subject to the PBGC’s determinations.  If enacted, the proposal would pose yet another reason to abandon pensions, according to ERIC.

ERIC warned that “increasing the cost and unpredictability associated with providing pensions to workers will force companies to exit the system, further eroding the system.”  Ugoretz said that “the private pension system is already under stress, suffering from another perfect storm of low interest rates, volatile equity markets, and pension funding rules that require unpredictable and often huge contributions.  This is the wrong solution to the wrong problem at the wrong time.”

Benefits September 23, 2011

Study Finds Gen X Overlooked in Workforce

September 23, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new study by the Center for Work-Life Policy finds that despite being the smallest generation (46 million), Generation X might be “the most critical generation of all” for employers. 
 
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Gen Xers are of an age (33 to 46 years old) that should put them at the prime of their lives and careers, stepping into leadership roles and starting families. However, a recent study, titled “The X Factor: Tapping into the Strengths of the 33- to 46-Year-Old Generation,” reveals that due to challenges and circumstances out of their control, Gen Xers are taking a different life path.

The study found a large number of Gen Xers are choosing notto have children. Their extreme work schedules (nearly a third of high earning Gen Xers work 60+ hours a week), strong career ambition, the current economic challenges, as well as changing mores, and life choices are all factors that contribute to their high level of childlessness compared to other generations.

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Gen X, born between 1965 and 1978, might be called the “wrong place, wrong time” generation, says the Center for Work-Life Policy. They were hit by an economic triple whammy: college-related debt, multiple boom and bust cycles (including the 1987 stock market crash, occurring just as Gen X entered the work force), and the housing slump. As a result, Gen X is the first generation not to match their parents’ living standards.

While these economic woes have impacted most generations, they have hit Gen X the hardest in their work lives, the study found. Due to their own financial concerns, Boomers are not retiring and are choosing instead to work an average of nine years longer than anticipated. This delays Gen X’s career progression, resulting in their feeling stalled in their careers and dissatisfied with their rate of advancement.

Yet the turmoil and instability that have been an integral part of Xers’ lives have yielded unexpected benefits in the work world. Having been front and center for every major economic crisis of the past 30 years, Xers possess exactly the sort of resilience that organizations need as they face an uncertain future.

The study contends that most importantly, Xers are masters at mastering change—a skill set critical in every company today. They have been laid off, restructured, outsourced, reorganized and relocated more than any other generation in modern times—yet they are hugely hard-working and ambitious, eager to amplify their talents by learning new skills and garnering new experiences. However, employers must take warning: These strengths risk being nullified by diminished loyalty, declining engagement—and increasing apathy.

Key findings from the survey show:

•  A large proportion of Xers are delaying or even opting out of parenting: 43
% of Xer women and 32% of Xer men do not have children.

•  Among non-parents, 60% of women and 36% of men feel their personal commitments are perceived as less important than those of colleagues with children.

•  Despite having been nicknamed the “slacker generation,” Generation X enrolled in higher education in record numbers. Over a third of Gen X hold bachelor’s degrees and 11% have graduate degrees.

•  Gen X is not only highly ambitious, but their ambition is nearly gender neutral: 75% of women and 72% of men consider themselves ambitious.

•  Thwarted by Boomers who can’t afford to retire and threatened by the prospect of leap- frogging Millennials, 41% of Xers are unsatisfied with their current rate of advancement and 49% feel stalled in their careers.

•  Debt determines many Xer career choices, with 43% of Xers saying that their ability to pay off their student loans is an important factor in their career choices and 74% saying the same about credit card debt.

•  The vast majority (91%) of X women and 68% of X men are part of a dual-earning couple. More than a third (36%) of Gen X women out-earn their spouses.

•  Women and minorities made up 64% of graduates during the Gen X college years. Many Xer minorities are the first in their family to graduate from college: 49% for African-Americans and 54% for Hispanics, compared to 33% of Caucasians.
 

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