Corporate sponsors are taking a harder look at their employee benefit plans. Clearly the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) contributes to this increased attention by formally requiring that pension plans be run solely in the interests of plan participants and by making plan fiduciaries personally liable for any breach of fiduciary duties. The growth in pension plan asset and retirement assets also draws the attention of senior management; when a plan’s size exceeds the assets of the largest corporate division or perhaps the total market value of the outstanding corporate stock, (more…)

As the nations of the world address the challenges of population aging, two key issues of concern are whether a sufficient number of appropriately skilled workers will be available to maintain economic productivity and whether the existing retirement pension programs will be able to maintain the growing number of retirees. A multidisciplinary literature addresses various dimensions of these joined issues, including studies of the trends in employment rates among persons 55 years and older, the relationship between aging and changes in physical and mental capacity, the influence of current policies on the availability and utilization of older workers, and how new workplace programs and government policies may lead to improved opportunities for jobs for older workers. The policies proposed in response to these concerns differ in their targets for change and in their tone. (more…)