Although the
number of traditional defined benefit plans—the old fashioned type of pension
plan that promised employees a formula-derived annuity benefit at retirement age—is
on the decline, these plans are not gone completely and remain critically
important for the retirement security of American workers and retirees. In the
private sector, there are approximately 10 million participants in
multiemployer pension plans covered by defined benefit plans. Public employees
(including employees of public universities) also are often covered by defined
benefit plan arrangements. So, too, are employees of many church-affiliated
entities, such as hospitals, universities, and nursing homes. And the biggest defined benefit plan of all is
Social Security, which provides a basic retirement annuity for most working
Americans. In many cases, these plans face significant resource issues,
suggesting that they may be unable to pay all of their participants all of the
benefits they have promised to pay them. In connection with the prospect of
this occurrence, the panelists will discuss the adequacy of the legal
structures under which these plans operate to protect participants from
reductions in benefits, and also will consider the intergenerational equity and
political concerns raised by such underfunded defined benefit systems.
Business meeting at program conclusion.