Last year, Southwest Airlines pilots approved a new contract under which pilots earned a substantial pay increase: a 50 percent salary increase over the life of the five year contract. The airline’s 11,000 pilots reportedly were negotiating not just for better pay, but also for improved retirement benefits and disability insurance along with a revised scheduling process.
Little did we know that the pilots were successful in improving their retirement benefits by negotiating a key new benefit that includes life income: a cash balance pension plan.
In 2025, will more employers look at strengthening their retirement benefits and offering pensions? Read more in Dan Doonan’s latest Forbes column.
A new report finds U.S. public pension plan investment strategies have adapted to meet changing market conditions.
In a Forbes column, NIRS Executive Director Dan Doonan writes about role of pensions in recruiting and retaining public safety professionals. He writes that some jobs become increasingly taxing as one ages. Airline pilots and air traffic controllers, for example, are subject to mandatory retirement ages. While not subject to mandatory retirement ages, many police […]
As state and local governments across the nation continue to struggle filling public safety positions, new research from the National Institute on Retirement Security explores how defined benefit pension plans are a critical workforce management tool for public safety employers.
In a Forbes column, NIRS Executive Director Dan Doonan writes that defined benefit pensions are a reliable source of retirement income and remain extremely popular among workers today. Despite claims of their demise, DB pension plans are alive and well, paying benefits to 25 million people, holding $11.8 trillion in plan assets, and more than […]