US Archives - Pension Policy International

29JunJune 29, 2026

US. State ponders commission as step to solving direct care worker shortage

Ohio lawmakers are eyeing a statewide approach to strengthening the direct care workforce as the state’s older adult population grows and the demand for aging services increases. Sponsored by state Reps. Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland) and Jodi Salvo (R-Bolivar), HB 530 would establish a commission tasked with examining Ohio’s direct care workforce shortage and recommending solutions to lawmakers. Specifically, the bill would establish the Long-Term Care Workforce Study Commission to examine: Current and future demand for direct care workers Statewide recruitment campaigns Career ladders...

June 29, 2026

NewsAging, US

26JunJune 26, 2026

US. More States Now Have More Seniors Than Children

Catron County, New Mexico, may be seeing the future of an aging population today. It has beautiful landscapes that draw retirees who fall in love with the area and want to stay among soaring rock formations and bright stars in dark skies. But it’s a tough place to get even minimal medical care. And employees are hard to find, with few young people to hire and support the tax base. It’s a microcosm of the national trend: By 2034 the whole...

June 26, 2026

NewsAging, US

25JunJune 25, 2026

US. Trump asks Congress for $1 billion to boost pensions of former GM parts company workers

The White House asked Congress on Wednesday for $1 billion to boost the pensions of workers at former General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab auto parts unit Delphi that were cut during the Detroit ‌automaker's 2009 bankruptcy restructuring. The White House is also seeking $1 billion to help reconstruct New York's Penn Station and $500 million to support ongoing construction projects at Washington's World War II memorial and the Tidal Basin as part of a supplemental funding request. The White House also wants...

June 25, 2026

NewsFunding, Private Pensions, US

24JunJune 24, 2026

The World’s Best Retirement Systems Share One Habit. In the U.S. People Have to Build It Alone.

Each year, Mercer and the CFA Institute publish the Global Pension Index, which scores 52 national retirement systems - covering about two-thirds of the world's population - on how well they actually serve retirees. It isn't a popularity contest. Systems are graded on adequacy (do benefits keep people comfortable?), sustainability (will the money still be there in 30 years?), and integrity (is the system well-run and trustworthy?). In the most recent rankings, the United States came in 30th, with a score of 61.1 -...

June 24, 2026

NewsRetirement Planning, US, Withdrawals

19JunJune 19, 2026

Why America’s Aging Population Is the Next Big Business Frontier

For decades, business leaders focused their energy on millennials — their spending habits, their values, their appetite for disruption. Meanwhile, a far larger economic force was quietly building momentum. Americans over 65 now represent one of the fastest growing consumer segments in the country, and the organizations, entrepreneurs, and executives paying attention stand to reshape entire industries. This isn’t a demographic footnote. It’s a structural shift with real consequences for healthcare delivery, real estate, workforce planning, and consumer product design....

June 19, 2026

NewsAging, US

18JunJune 18, 2026

Vanguard’s alarming state of retirement in 2026: The average American has $167,970 in their account—or they have $44,115

For 25 years, Vanguard has been keeping score on the great American retirement experiment. Every year, it publishes the most comprehensive snapshot in the industry of how workers save, how much they accumulate, and whether any of it will be enough. The 2026 edition is out. Spoiler: It depends on which number you’re looking at. The number Vanguard leads with is $167,970—the average 401(k) balance across nearly 5 million accounts the firm administered at year-end 2025. That’s a record high, up 13% from...

June 18, 2026

NewsAdequacy, savings, US

17JunJune 17, 2026

US. Retirement savings set record high — but so do hardship withdrawals: Vanguard

There's some good news and some not-so-good news on the retirement front from Vanguard. Americans set aside a record amount of money in their 401(k) accounts last year, according to Vanguard's "How America Saves 2026" report. But while savings rates are up, so are the number of Americans tapping their 401(k) for emergencies. Vanguard said 6% of participants made a hardship withdrawal in 2025, the largest share ever and up from 5% in 2024. "Pressures such as inflation and rising interest rates contribute...

June 17, 2026

Newssavings, US, Withdrawals

16JunJune 16, 2026

US. Investment Returns Outweigh Small Liability Jump for Pension Finances

Surging investment returns outpaced slow-growing liabilities in May, bringing the funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit pension funds to 109.6%—the highest ratio recorded since the 109.9% mark observed in July 2001—according to Milliman’s Pension Funding Index. Thanks to last month’s robust 2.22% investment return, more than quadruple Milliman’s expected rate of 0.53%, the market value of Milliman 100 plan assets grew $22 billion during May. The projected pension liability for Milliman 100 plans increased by $4 billion over...

June 16, 2026

NewsFunding, Returns, US

16JunJune 16, 2026

US. NYC comptroller launches search for new pension fund asset managers

New York City Comptroller Mark Levine announced Friday that the city’s pension funds would undertake a search for new asset managers to provide passive indexing of public equity stocks for the city’s five public pensions systems. Levine and the city’s pension funds said the search specifically includes seeking indexes that are weighted by market capitalization, alternatively weighted or those based on ESG factors and limits on carbon, so long as they are consistent with each pension system’s investment guidelines, according...

June 16, 2026

NewsInvestment, Pension Management, US

15JunJune 15, 2026

US. Federal Rescue Stabilizes Pension Benefits for 1.8 Million Workers

A new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on multiemployer pension plans lands at a tense moment: a $77.9 billion federal rescue program enacted under the Biden administration has stabilized the retirement benefits of 1.8 million workers, but unresolved questions about improper payments, structural vulnerabilities, and the long-term health of hundreds of plans are now up to a Republican Congress and a Trump administration with a very different view of federal intervention in private sector pensions. More than 11 million workers...

June 15, 2026

NewsPension Management, US

June 2026