The Central States pension fund has been corrupted by Jimmy Hoffa and the Chicago mob to use as their piggy bank to fund among other things casinos in Las Vegas now mixing in congress makes it worse. I will be collecting on my company funded pension soon they are said to buy the pensioner an annuity but I am giving very serious thought to taking a lump sum cash payout and invest it myself.. If you have a 401K keep an eye on it you never know when they will jack with that ..................................... Ten months after Congress — without hearings or debate — made it possible to slash federally protected pensions, the first 407,000 victims of the backroom dealing are learning how much less they will have to live on. The pensions of some retirees and workers covered by the Teamsters’ Central States Pension Fund will be cut 50 percent or more, according to anecdotes collected by the Pension Rights Center, a privately funded organization that promotes retirement security. “I will be cut from $2,500 a month to $1,009 a month,” a 71-year-old retiree from Parsons, Kan., told the center. “Central States Pension Fund sent me a letter stating that my pension will be reduced from $3,100 to $1,276.03,” wrote a 73-year-old retiree from Winfield, Mo. Normally, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a federal agency that backstops pensions, would step in when that happens. But the agency, which covers about 10 million Americans in about 1,400 multiemployer pension plans, has a $42.4 billion deficit of its own when it comes to protecting those plans. Multiemployer plans are created by collective bargaining agreements and generally cover workers in the same industry or who are represented by the same labor union, such as the Teamsters or the United Mine Workers. An estimated 1.5 million workers and retirees are covered by multiemployer plans that are less than 40 percent funded and could eventually run out of money, according to the PBGC. To protect the PBGC and a portion of the pensions of Teamsters and other workers in troubled multiemployer plans, lawmakers in December authorized egregiously underfunded plans like Central States to reduce pension benefits. The measure was part of the last-minute, $1.1 trillion budget compromise, reflecting Congress’ habit of relying on obfuscation to deal with tough issues http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...ter-pensions-go-off-road/stories/201510180057 ------------------------ Retired truck drivers are bracing for 50% pension cuts - Oct. 15, 2015 Retiree Bill Hendershot stands to lose $2,104 a month if his pension fund gets its way. The Central States Pension Fund is pursuing a plan that would slash pension checks in half for some former union truck drivers. The fund is on the brink of insolvency and says it needs to cut benefits for 273,000 current and future retirees in order to stay afloat. Hendershot was told earlier this month that he should brace for a 60% cut as early as July, pending approval from the Treasury Department. If that happens, his remaining check will be $1,396. "This is going to be rough. It's quite likely that I'll have to try to find some work. But who's going to hire a 74-year-old?" he said. Hendershot retired after working 35 years as a truck driver. He and his wife live on his pension and their Social Security benefits. The sharp reduction in his payment from the Central States fund would wipe out more than one-third of the total monthly income they have now.
