Private Pensions: Information on Cash Balance Pension PlansThe nation's private defined benefit (DB) pension system, a key contributor to the financial security of millions of Americans, is in long-term decline. Since 1980, the number of participants in insured single employer DB plans has dropped from 27% in 1980, to 15% in 2002. Hybrid DB plans like cash balance (CB) plans may be a means to revitalize this declining system. This report: reviews current research about the implications of CB conversions for employee benefits; describes the prevalence & type of transition provisions used to protect workers' benefits in past CB conversions; & estimates the effects of CB conversions on the benefits of individual participants under a hypothetical conversion to a typical CB plan from a typical traditional DB plan. |
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1955 birth cohort Accountability Integrity Reliability accruals accrued benefit Age at conversion age plus service annuity Average Pay Plans base pay credit Cash Balance Plans CB conversions CB pension plan CB plan conversions CB plan versus conversion ages conversions at age conversions to CB cost CB plan Defined Contribution Plan eligibility equal cost CB equal-cost CB plan FAP or CB Final Average Pay Form 5500 data GAO Accountability Integrity GAO's analysis grandfathered benefits Grandfathering protects Mellon Financial Corporation microsimulation month for conversions monthly benefit Monthly Retirement Income older workers opening account balance participants Pay Plans 06-42templated.doc PBGC PENSIM model pension wealth plan sponsors Plans and Traditional plans to CB present value Private Pensions private-sector Simulations GAO Accountability terminated FAP plan traditional DB plan traditional FAP plan Traditional Final Average transition provisions typical CB plan typical FAP plan vested workers Watson Wyatt Worldwide wearaway
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Page 9 - We also will make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you have any questions concerning this information, please contact me at (202) 512-6256 or by e-mail at hiter@gao.gov.
Page 58 - The 95-percent confidence intervals are expected to include the actual results for 95 percent of the samples of this type. We calculated confidence intervals for our study results using methods that are appropriate for a stratified probability sample. For the GAO-02-591 Air TVaffic Control Methodology for GAO's Survey of Air Traffic Controllers...
Page 58 - In addition to the reported sampling errors, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey may introduce other types of errors, commonly referred to as nonsampling errors. For example, differences in how a particular question is interpreted...
Page 1 - Ranking Minority Member Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate The Honorable John A. Boehner Chairman The Honorable George Miller Ranking Minority Member Committee on Education and the Workforce House of Representatives The Honorable William M.
Page 58 - Our confidence in the precision of the results from this sample is expressed in 95 percent confidence intervals. The 95 percent confidence intervals are expected to include the actual results for 95 percent of the samples of this type. We calculated confidence intervals for our study results using methods that are appropriate for a stratified probability sample. For the percentages presented in this report, we are 95 percent confident that the results we would have obtained had we studied the entire...
Page 1 - P' : *ns, formulas set by the employer determine employee benefits. ^^^ DB plan formulas vary widely, but benefits are frequently based on participant pay and years of service, and typically paid upon retirement as a lifetime annuity, or periodic payments until death.
Page 55 - Form 5500 is a disclosure form that private sector employers with qualified pension plans are required to file with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Labor's Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), and PBGC.
Page 5 - April 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. In summary, we found the following...
Page 50 - A Benefit Value Comparison of a Cash Balance Plan with a Traditional Average Pay Defined Benefit Plan," The Pension Forum [Society of Actuaries, October 1998]).
Page 57 - Because we surveyed a sample of school districts, our results are estimates of a population of school districts and thus are subject to sampling errors that are associated with samples of this size and type. Our confidence in the precision of the results from this sample is expressed in 95 percent confidence intervals.