UMass Boston

We help people navigate the maze of policies and laws to secure their retirement income.

The Pension Action Center, part of UMass Boston's Gerontology Institute, provides free legal counseling for workers and retirees who live or worked in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Illinois.

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Who We Are

We are experienced pension lawyers and pension counselors who can help you understand your rights under pension law and claim the retirement income benefits that you have earned.

What We Do 

We can help workers, retirees, and their families in New England and Illinois resolve problems like these: 
You are entitled to a pension but you don’t understand the process or the employer is unresponsive so you are not receiving it. 

• You have a vested pension in a company that has gone bankrupt and you can’t find the plan.
• You have worked for a company or union over a period of years but you are being denied a pension because of a break-in-service or other reasons the company gives for saying you are not vested. You need help finding your employment records to prove your eligibility.
• Your employer abandons its 401(k) plan so you can’t access your money.
• Your spouse has died and you are impoverished because their pension was terminated even though you never waived your right to a survivor benefit.
• You start receiving a pension substantially less than you expected because the plan has miscalculated your benefit.

If you are outside of New England or Illinois, please visit the  Pension Rights Center to see if there is a similar service available in your area. Currently, 30 states are served by a free pension-counseling program. 

Disclaimer

The information on the Pension Action Center’s website is intended to provide general information about pensions and other retirement benefits and should not be used as a substitute for a consultation with an attorney or other legal professional. Individuals should always consult a legal or financial advisor to discuss the facts and circumstances of their specific situation.

Because of the rapidly changing nature of the law affecting pensions and other retirement benefits, the information published online by the Pension Action Center is subject to change without notice. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of information presented, there may be errors. If you find inaccurate data on our web site, please let us know by sending an email to the Pension Action Center.