Benefits December 29, 2006

Steel Giant Salaried Retiree Coalition to End

December 29, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Bethlehem Steel's Retired Employees Benefits Coalition (REBCO), representing salaried retirees and their spouses, will voluntarily dissolve by December 31, according to the Baltimore Sun.
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The newspaper reports the Coalition was formed by former executives of the steel giant in 1987 after a wave of bankruptcy filings by steel industry employers. While not a union, the founders intended for the Coalition to provide support and lobbying muscle for former salaried workers, similar to that of the United Steelworkers union for hourly employees.

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Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and in December of 2002, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) said it would assume responsibility for pension benefits of Bethlehem’s 95,000 workers and retirees – its largest takeover ever both in terms of number of participants and unfunded liability (See PBGC Takes On Its Biggest Liability Yet ). In March 2003, the company ceased paying for retiree health-care benefits about two months earlier than expected, the Baltimore Sun said.

“Without a doubt, it was the one thing that helped the salaried retirees obtain the knowledge they needed,” said former Sparrows Point mill general manager Russell Jones of REBCO, in the news report. Current REBCO President Fred Harvey, formerly general manager of the company’s Bethlehem plant, added, “I think a lot of people are sorry to see it go, but I have to say to you, what’s the point of keeping it open? We have accomplished what we wanted to do. We got the pension squared away with PBGC. We got Medicare squared away for our members.”

The Coalition stopped collecting its $10 per family dues this year expecting to dissolve the organization, and said any remaining funds will be donated to a charity that trains guide dogs for the disabled.

Benefits December 28, 2006

Americans Cite Health Care in Retirement as Top Concern

December 28, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Echoing the findings of other similar polls, a new survey from Edward Jones found that nearly one-third of Americans are most concerned about not having enough to pay for their health care needs in retirement.
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An Edward Jones news release said the number of respondents expressing the health care concern significantly eclipsed the number who cited other issues such as having to work during one’s later years. Not surprisingly, nearly half of those respondents nearest to retirement age (55 to 64 years old) were much more likely to be concerned about health care costs than their younger counterparts (43% vs.10%).

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“In many ways, Americans are saying they are concerned that health and medical costs are likely to take the biggest chunk out of their nest eggs,” said Lindsey Wilkins, a partner and retirement planning expert at Edward Jones, in the news release.

The study, conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of the St. Louis-based financial services firm, also found that one in five respondents said they would have to rely on others to support them after they stopped working. Baby boomers were more positive about the future than others, with only 11% of boomers saying they expect to rely on others financially in their retirement.

Retirement concerns were also not confined to those households with lower incomes. In fact, the reverse is true as those with an income of more than $75,000 were much more concerned about paying for their health care later in life (33%) than those with an income of $25,000 (16%).

More information about Edward Jones is here .

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