Senator Bernie Sanders at a town hall on January 5, 2016. Advocates of defined-benefits plans and proponents of defined-contribution plans once again squared off at a Senate committee hearing last week. And, as usual, no consensus developed about the best direction to go, as policymakers struggle to find ways to increase Americans' retirement savings.
As he started the hearing, Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders released a report on the problems facing the retirement system. "The report finds that defined-benefit plans, which provide workers with monthly pension payments, are the most cost-efficient way to provide a secure lifelong retirement," Sanders said.
However, committee ranking Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana rejected that notion. "The singular focus of this hearing on promoting the defined-benefit system is a bit puzzling," he said. "It seems to prescribe an agenda that is, respectfully, outdated and disconnected from reality."
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