Judd Gregg: “we must get serious as a Congress and a nation about across-the-board retirement reform. It is time every American…”

“we must get serious as a Congress and a nation about across-the-board retirement reform. It is time every American worker has a sense of ownership over his or her retirement income and the promises that have been made. To do so requires valid information about the security of his or her future retirement income, and current and relevant information to be able to make smart choices when options are available. Beneficiaries must be timely notified when their retirement income is in jeopardy; workers must be assured that the law doesn't allow and even encourage hollow promises. Employers and union leaders should be prohibited from offering rank-and-file members benefit increases that cannot be paid for, particularly when a company is below investment grade. The law must place a tangible price on all plan underfunding to limit the moral hazard of shifting risk to beneficiaries, the PBGC, and other companies paying premiums. Accounting schemes that paper-over massive funding shortfalls must be outlawed, and interest rate policies should be straightforward to administer and consistent with each plan's liability payout schedule. Continuing the underlying 30-year-old pension law is not an option. It is a law without transparency where union bosses and irresponsible management are allowed to go into back rooms and make promises they know cannot be kept.…”