Will Your Pension Be The Next Sacrificial Lamb?

For the better part of my career as a licensed financial professional, I have been raging against the machine when it comes to pensions and other defined benefit plans.

As the traditional pension plan remains under attack and will soon be placed on the endangered species list, I will continue my warnings.

Recently International paper offered 47,000 employees a lump sum buy out of defined benefit plans (pensions) for employees, both retired and still employed.

As of Dec. 31, the company’s U.S. defined benefit plan assets totaled $10.923 billion, with projected benefit obligations of $14.438 billion, for a funding ratio of 75.7%.

Pension plans are very costly for companies, so many private sector companies are slowly making the the transition to 401k plans, which forces the American worker to become more and more responsible for their retirement assets.

For those of you that walk the tightrope of retirement planning without the pension safety net, certain types of annuities may be a viable alternative.

Annuities can offer:

* guaranteed growth

*lifetime income stream

*protection against market downturns

As Americans continue to live longer and companies continue to try and preserve their bottom lines, pension plans will continue to be the sacrificial lamb.

Oh and if you know an employee of International Paper, have them contact me. I can help!

IF YOU CHANGE YOUR FINANCIAL THINKING, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE!

Rick Knight is a licensed financial professional,author and former radio host, he can be contacted at knight532@juno.com