Retirement Security

Fewer employers today provide defined-benefit pensions for their workers—and among those that do, many are offering “defined-contribution” (like 401[k]s) rather than traditional “defined-benefit” pension plans.

That’s why Social Security insurance is essential for millions of retirees. Nearly two-thirds of retirees count on Social Security for half or more of their retirement income and for more than three in 10, Social Security is 90 percent or more of their income. It is a safety net that keeps retirees out of poverty.

It’s also important to figure out what you will need to retire. Talking a look at how much Social Security will provide, whether you have another form of pension and how much you spend are all components in determining when you can retire.

For decades, workers achieved retirement security because their retirement income flowed from a combination of employer-provided pensions, Social Security and personal savings. But the recession has exposed the severe deficiencies in our retirement system. We need to develop a new way to provide workers with lifetime retirement security beyond Social Security.

More about this issue:

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SAG-AFTRA and New York Public Radio (NYPR) this week announced that they have reached a Voluntary Recognition Agreement that will add over 25 new employees – including reporters for the news site Gothamist – to the union’s longstanding collective bargaining unit, which covers approximately 175 wo

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Editorial staffers at Refinery29, a web site focused largely on Millennial women, are the latest to unionize under the Writers Guild of America East.

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The city’s Housing Authority and Teamsters Local 237 have struck a deal on a new contract that will for the first time allow employees to do weekend maintenance work at NYCHA housing.

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Nearly 20 union leaders were arrested and hundreds of faculty, staff and students demonstrated in the wintry cold Dec. 10 to demand full funding for the City University of New York.

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Staffers at New York Magazine on Wednesday morning asked management to voluntarily recognize an editorial union, joining a host of other news and magazine organizations that have similarly unionized in recent years.

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Writers and editors at Slate have voted nearly unanimously to green-light a strike if management refuses to agree to a fair contract. Slate’s editorial employees, represented by the Writers Guild of America–East, authorized the potential strike by a vote of 52 to 1.

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The International Labor Communications Association, founded in 1955, is the professional organization of labor communicators in North America.

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The NYC Central Labor Council hosts Political Directors meetings every month.