The nation's private pension system is fraying and at risk of unraveling altogether.
The reason: More than three-quarters of the nation's traditional private pension plans are underfunded - which means they currently don't have enough assets to cover the benefits already promised to their workers and current retirees.
And the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), the government insurer that is supposed to guarantee workers some protections if companies go under, is facing a deficit of almost $30 billion.
Add to that the threat of more bankruptcies in old-line industries, from manufacturers to the so-called legacy carriers like United Airlines - which last week won approval to default on its pension obligations to 120,000 workers - and experts predict that millions more retirees may suddenly find themselves having to make due with less than they were promised.
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