Private Pensions: Timely and Accurate Information Is Needed to Identify and Track Frozen Defined Benefit Plans

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "While private-sector pensions help millions of Americans achieve retirement income security, the number of private defined benefit (DB) plans1 has declined substantially over the past two decades. Recently, those concerned with the viability of the private defined benefit pension system point to significant increases in pension contributions plan sponsors must make and to the fact that most plans are currently underfunded. The underfunding of plans, due in large part to the sharp decline in the stock market combined with a general decline in interest rates, has increased substantially. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), whose single-employer insurance program insures the benefits of over 34 million workers and retirees in private defined benefit plans, estimated that the total underfunding exceeded $350 billion as of September 4, 2003. According to employer groups, plan sponsors face inflated and unpredictable pension contributions that have greatly diminished the attractiveness of maintaining DB plans. As a result, employer groups have suggested that plan sponsors may consider freezing their plans rather than confronting the possibility of increased pension contributions. A plan "freeze" could have adverse consequences for the retirement income security of participants because new employees are precluded from participating in the plan, and current participants might not receive additional benefit accruals. Because timely and accurate information on plan freezes could be important in assessing the overall health of the private DB system, Congress asked us to determine how many DB plans have been frozen since 2000.