As traditional pensions become increasingly rare, more firms are offering hybrid or ?cash balance plans? which allow them to offer a pension at a lower cost. In these plans the company regularly puts money aside for workers, and the worker then decides how that money is invested. While cash-balance plans have many advantages for younger workers, older workers often see their future benefits reduced.
See "As pensions fade, some firms try hybrid plans", David Francis, The Christian Science Monitor, October 24, 2004