Congressional Research Service Reports - 167 Matching Results

Search Results

Results: 1 - 24 next
open access

Congressional Salaries and Allowances

Description: This report provides basic information on congressional salaries and allowances. First, the report briefly summarizes the current salary of Members of Congress, limits on their outside earned income and honoraria, and applicable health insurance and retirement benefits. Second, it provides information on allowances available to Representatives and Senators to support them in their official and representational duties as Members. Third, it provides the salaries and allowances available to the Sp… more
Date: August 5, 2004
Creator: Dwyer, Paul E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Social Security Notch Issue: A Summary

Description: This report discusses recent attempts at legislative action regarding changes to the computation of benefits under Social Security Amendments of 1977 (P.L. 95-216), which directly affected retirees born in the 5- to 15-year period after 1916. These persons fall in the "notch" between previous Social Security legislation and those affected by the amendments.
Date: August 5, 2003
Creator: Kollmann, Geoffrey
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Military Retirement: Major Legislative Issues

Description: This report discusses various proposed changes to the military retirement system, which includes benefits for retirement after an active or reserve military career, disability retirement, and survivor benefits for eligible survivors of deceased retirees. Major issues include whether some or all military retirees should be allowed to receive both military retired pay and any VA disability compensation to which they are otherwise entitled -- referred to as "concurrent receipt" -- whether some mil… more
Date: October 21, 2003
Creator: Goldich, Robert L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Retirement Savings Tax Credit: A Fact Sheet

Description: This report discusses the saver's tax credit, under which eligible individuals receive a non-refundable tax credit of up to $1,000 for contributing to a traditional IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement plan that is qualified under §401, §403 or §457 of the Internal Revenue Code. The credit was first available in 2002 but will expire after 2006 unless extended by Congress.
Date: April 1, 2004
Creator: Purcell, Patrick
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Automatic Enrollment in Section 401(k) Plans

Description: This report discusses enrollment practices for 401k retirement plans. Historically, most employers that have sponsored retirement savings plans under §401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) have required employees to decide whether to enroll in the plan. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued rulings to inform employers that current law allows them to enroll employees automatically, provided that the employee is notified in advance and is permitted to leave the plan.
Date: October 14, 2004
Creator: Purcell, Patrick
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Retirement Savings and Household Wealth in 2000: Analysis of Census Bureau Data

Description: This report examines recent trends in retirement saving and the policy implications. The aging of the American population and the impending retirement of the "baby boom" will place significant strains over the next several decades on both Social Security and on retirees' own financial resources. With continued increases in average life expectancies, retirees in the 21st century will have to stretch their savings and other assets over longer periods of retirement than were experienced by their p… more
Date: December 12, 2002
Creator: Purcell, Patrick J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Veterans' Pensions: Fact Sheet

Description: This report discusses veterans' pensions, which are monthly cash payments made to qualified veterans or survivors so that their total income from all countable sources reach specified annual levels and are administered by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: Snook, Dennis W. & Butler, Alice D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Social Security: The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

Description: This report discusses the windfall elimination provision (WEP), which reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. Its purpose is to remove an advantage these workers would otherwise receive because of Social Security’s benefit formula that favors workers with smaller amounts of Social Security-covered career earnings. Opponents contend that the provision is basically imprecise and often unfair.
Date: January 14, 2008
Creator: Haltzel, Laura
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Summary of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Description: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) provides a comprehensive federal scheme for the regulation of employee pension and welfare benefit plans offered by employers. ERISA contains various provisions intended to protect the rights of plan participants and beneficiaries in employee benefit plans. These protections include requirements relating to reporting and disclosure, participation, vesting, and benefit accrual, as well as plan funding. ERISA also regulates the responsib… more
Date: April 10, 2008
Creator: Purcell, Patrick & Staman, Jennifer
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Market for Retirement Annuities

Description: A retirement annuity allows an individual to purchase a regular payment stream from an insurance company to last his lifetime. Despite the ability of the product to eliminate the risk that a retiree will outlive his assets, few retirement annuities have been sold in the individual market. In addition, the number of individuals who annuitize their defined contribution retirement plan balances remains small. New products are emerging that would offer alternate annuity designs and make annuity pri… more
Date: May 18, 2006
Creator: Ranade, Neela K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

ERISA’s Impact on Medical Malpractice and Negligence Claims Against Managed Care Plans

Description: This report examines the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which provides a comprehensive federal scheme for the regulation of employee pension and welfare benefit plans offered by employers. While ERISA does not require an employer to offer pension and welfare benefits, it does mandate compliance with its provisions if such benefits are offered. Congress enacted ERISA to eliminate the conflicting and inconsistent regulation of pension and employee welfare benefit plans b… more
Date: February 21, 2008
Creator: Shimabukuro, Jon O.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Age Dependency Ratios and Social Security Solvency

Description: As highlighted by the Social Security Administration (SSA), the aging of the (United States) population, hastened by the impending retirement of the huge baby-boom generation, has caused policy-makers to question whether the U.S. Social Security system can meet the demands for retirement benefits in the future. Because the current system largely pays benefits through taxes paid by current workers, the financial health of the system is sensitive to the ratio of dependents to workers—sometimes ca… more
Date: October 27, 2006
Creator: Shrestha, Laura B.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Cash Balance Pension Plans and Claims of Age Discrimination

Description: This report describes cash balance plans, discusses the arguments that cash balance plans do and do not violate the age discrimination prohibitions, provides an overview of the court cases, and addresses the activity by the Treasury Department and Congress.
Date: October 6, 2005
Creator: Staman, Jennifer & Lunder, Erika
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Employee Retirement Programs: Budget and Trust Fund Issues

Description: Retirement annuities for civilian federal employees are provided mainly through two programs: the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). These annuities are financed through a combination of employee contributions and payments made by the federal government to the civil service retirement trust fund. This report discusses the two programs, how they work, and how they are financed.
Date: May 24, 2004
Creator: Purcell, Patrick J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Summary of the Pension Protection Act of 2006

Description: This report summarizes the main provisions of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) as they affect single-employer defined benefit plans, multiemployer defined benefit plans, and defined contribution plans.
Date: October 23, 2006
Creator: Purcell, Patrick
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Social Security: The Government Pension Offset

Description: This report discusses the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision, which reduces Social Security benefits that a person receives as a spouse if he or she also has a government pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security. Its purpose is to replicate Social Security’s “dual entitlement” rule, which requires that a Social Security benefit earned as a worker be subtracted from any Social Security spousal benefit to which the worker is eligible. Its intent is to remove an advant… more
Date: February 13, 2003
Creator: Kollmann, Geoffrey
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Military Retirement: Background and Recent Developments

Description: This report discusses the military retirement system. The system currently includes monthly compensation for qualified active and reserve retirees, disability benefits for those deemed medically unfit to serve, and a survivor annuity program for the eligible survivors of deceased retirees.
Date: November 17, 2008
Creator: Henning, Charles A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

H.R. 4: The Pension Protection Act

Description: This report discusses the Pension Protection Act (PPA) reforms and the funding rules for defined benefit pensions; requires employers to disclose more information about pension funding; restricts benefit payments and accruals in underfunded plans; and clarifies, prospectively, that cash balance pension plans do not violate legal prohibitions on age discrimination in employee benefits.
Date: September 27, 2006
Creator: Purcell, Patrick
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen