Pension Counseling and Information Program (OAA Title II)
Authorizing Legislation: Title II, Section 215 of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended
The Purpose of the Program and How it Works
Today, there are more than 700,000 private (as well as thousands of public) pension and retirement plans in the United States. Given that an employee may have worked for several employers, which may have merged, sold their plans, or gone bankrupt, it is very difficult for the average person to know where to get help in finding out whether or not he or she is receiving all of his or her pension benefits.
AoA’s Pension Counseling and Information Program promotes the financial security of older individuals and enhances their choice and independence by empowering them to make wise decisions with respect to pensions and savings plans. The program assists older Americans in accessing information about their retirement benefits and helps them to negotiate with former employers or pension plans for due compensation.
AoA currently funds six regional counseling projects, covering 27 States. These projects provide hands-on assistance in pursuing claims through:
- Handling administrative appeals processes
- Helping seniors to locate pension plans “lost” as a result of mergers and acquisitions
- Answering queries about complex plan provisions
- Making targeted referrals to other professionals for assistance
Projects serve individuals, regardless of age or income, who:
- Reside or work in the project’s service region; or who
- Worked or resided in the project’s service region while earning a pension, or when married to an individual earning a pension; or who
- Seek pension benefits that are sponsored, administered, trusteed, or are otherwise held or distributed by an entity that is or was headquartered or operated within the project’s service region.
By producing fact sheets and other publications, hosting Web sites, and conducting outreach, education and awareness efforts, pension counseling projects also provide indirect services to tens of thousands of seniors and their families.
AoA also funds a National Pension Assistance Resource Center which provides support to the projects, as well as to State and Area Agencies on Aging, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, legal services providers, and others by providing substantive legal training, technical assistance and programmatic consultation.
The Pension Assistance Resource Center also assists individuals living in areas not currently served by a project. Current initiatives include development of a comprehensive dataset of pension information and resources to be used for a web-based pension assistance and referral system.
Data Highlight Extensive Services Provided to Seniors
Data for the program shows that pension counseling projects have:
- Obtained nearly $75 million in retirement benefits, a return of more than $5 for every federal dollar invested in the program
- Served over 30,000 individuals
Funding History
| FY 2005: |
$ 1,170,560 |
| FY 2006: |
$ 1,158,057 |
| FY 2007: |
$ 1,158,823 |
| FY 2008: |
$ 1,646,720 |
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Resources and Useful Links
Pension Assistance Resource Center
The Pension Rights Center serves as AoA's National Pension Assistance Resource Center. It provides legal consultation and training to the pension counseling projects, State and Area Agencies on Aging, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and legal services providers.
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| Last Modified: 7/16/2009 8:52:45 AM |
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