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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) protects workers and ensures that they receive defined-benefit (DB) pension benefits even if their employers go bankrupt.
In 1974, Congress passed protections for individuals in private retirement and health insurance plans.
Retirement plan sponsors must demonstrate fiduciary responsibility by acting in the sole interest of plan participants and beneficiaries.
Some companies sponsoring defined-benefit plans purchase annuities from private insurers.
Grandparents and other relatives play an important caregiving role in family well-being. Support from extended family is especially vital in families with low incomes.
Federal and state programs help many older people with low incomes. These programs provide access to vital services like income support and health care.
How to improve the tax code is the subject of much debate. Proponents of reform often call for increasing fairness and simplicity. But people define those concepts in different ways.
Policymakers use the tax system to raise revenue and to promote social policy goals. For example, tax breaks may be provided to encourage home ownership.
Most states and localities generate a significant portion of state and local revenue from the taxation of retail sales. Such taxes are attractive because they are relatively easy to administer.
The mainstay of local taxation is the tax on real estate, known as the property tax. It is used to fund an array of critical state and local services, most notably public schools.