The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. announced a record deficit yesterday of $11.2 billion. The agency is privately funded by insurance premiums paid by companies sponsoring pension plans and they protect the pensions of over 44 million workers. The stock market losses, lower corporate earnings, bankruptcies, and growing number of retirees over the last three years have caused the system to be underfunded. Although they can meet the immediate pension demands, their future is in doubt and Congress has been considering changing the system.
See "Pension guarantor sees crisis", Marilyn Geewax, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 15, 2004