With the 2025 state legislative sessions looming, Wyoming is now added to the list of states that are apparently willing to burden taxpayers and retirees simply to score political points. On January 2, the “Stop ESG-State funds fiduciary act”, was filed in the Wyoming House of Representatives. Like legislation in other states, WY House Bill…
With the new year looming, it’s good to stay informed about some upcoming tax and social security changes that will come in 2025. Of note, the IRS increased the amount people can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2025 from $23,000 to $23,500. That also applies to 403(b), 457, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings…
Index funds are wildly popular with retirees and people investing in their future retirement. Instead of picking individual stocks, investors can choose blocks of stocks — like the whole S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the top 100 companies in NASDAQ, and so on — avoiding some of the volatility of individual stocks while…
The Alliance for Prosperity and a Secure Retirement (APSR) is happy to welcome seven new members that joined the coalition during the past several weeks. These new members include: They join APSR’s growing ranks of groups that represent a number of different perspectives in the retirement discussion, including state employees across the U.S. who depend…
With the elections behind us and the end of 2024 just a few weeks away, new risks of political interference in public pension investing and retirement security are coming into focus. Some newly elected state officials are redoubling their efforts to blacklist investment advisers they accuse of injecting non-financial factors into their decisions about pensions…
According to Gallup, only 29 percent of retirees say a 401(k) or an IRA is a major source of their income. Most – 58 percent – say Social Security is a major source. And 34 percent said pensions are a major source of retirement income. That Gallup survey found the actual sources of retirement income…
“We have a mission to protect public pension funds and the trustees…from the interference of politics in some decision making.” Tim Hill’s opening statement at the recent NCPERS’ Public Safety Conference is timely given today’s political environment. Hill, president of the Alliance for Prosperity and a Secure Retirement (APSR), was joined by Greg Markley, Secretary…
Steady savings and investments over a long period of time are a proven strategy for financial security in retirement. Many public-sector employees, along with some private-sector employees, can participate in pension plans offered by their employers. Many of them, particularly those who work in the private sector, can also count on Social Security for some…
Credit to Oklahoma’s state constitution for protecting the state’s retirees from lawmakers trying to inject political wishes into public investments. The Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act (EDEA) prevented state entities (including pension funds and municipalities) from doing business with banks and financial advisers allegedly discriminating against the fossil fuel industry. It was passed in 2022,…
Blacklisting financial firms can be expensive, as a number of states have discovered after penalizing those who don’t invest according to lawmakers’ political preferences. And while most of the attention has been on how those laws affect future and current retirees and individual taxpayers, those higher costs can weigh heavily on businesses and state economies….
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