Financial Times, August 3, 2008

In an article following a Congressional hearing on pensions, the Financial Times reports that lawmakers are interested in efforts to revitalize pensions plans amid worries that Americans are not saving enough for retirement.

The paper also reports that lawmakers and the experts they interviewed at the hearing said those closures could undermine the economy.

The article quotes Robert Hunkeler, vice president of investments for International Paper, “How serious are they really about this?”  The company closed its DB plan to new employees in 2004. “They spent the better part of five years enacting legislation that did anything but support or encourage support of traditional pension plans,” he adds, referring to the Pension Protection Act.

North Dakota Representative Earl Pomeroy, the article reports, forcefully told the committee Congress had “made all the wrong moves” in trying to strengthen retirement savings.  Read the full article here (Registration required)