Defined Benefits

Retirement assets, accounting for 36 percent of all household financial assets in the U.S., rose by 2.8 percent in the second quarter.

The panel said the states combined liabilities in pensions and retiree health-care costs are about $90 billion.

The 25 largest U.S. public pensions face about $2 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

Prudential will assume the responsibility of managing the companys retiree defined benefit pension assets and disbursing monthly payments.

Employers will be required to report offers made to pension plan participants to convert their monthly annuities into cash lump sums.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will begin paying the retirement benefits of almost 2,000 current and future retirees of a Richmond, Virginia-based mining company.

The IRS may have made the murky world of retirement plan compliance a bit easier for sponsors to manage.

We are unlikely to know the full impact of Calperss decision for some time. It will, however, be influential.