It comes from the interest and dividends of the money that was in the plans when they were taken over by the PBGC, in CLT last August a PBGC employee gave a PBGC pension overview at the DL 141M Chairman's Conference and I was in attendance.[BR][BR] [BR]
[P class=headertext][A name=body]Legal Information & FOIA[/A][BR][BR][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]PBGC is a federal government corporation [/FONT]established by Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to encourage the continuation and maintenance of defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits to participants and beneficiaries in plans covered by PBGC, and keep pension insurance premiums at the lowest level necessary to carry out the Corporation's objectives. Find out more about the laws and regulations governing PBGC and PBGC's responsibility under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). [A href="http://www.pbgc.gov/laws/default.htm#top"][/A]I think you need to make sure you post facts, you are 1000% wrong, read it and weep![BR][BR] [BR]
[P class=headertext][A name=body]Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation[/A][BR][BR][BR][BR][b]Mission and Background:[/b] PBGC was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to encourage the growth of defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums at a minimum. Defined benefit pension plans promise to pay a specified monthly benefit at retirement, commonly based on salary and years on the job. [BR][BR][b]Money PBGC Takes In and Pays Out:[/b] [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]PBGC is not funded by general tax revenues. PBGC collects insurance premiums from employers that sponsor insured pension plans, earns money from investments and receives funds from pension plans it takes over. [/FONT][BR][BR]PBGC pays monthly retirement benefits, up to a [A href="http://www.pbgc.gov/services/descriptions/guarantee_table.htm"]guaranteed maximum[/A], to nearly 269,000 retirees in 2,975 pension plans that ended. Including those who have not yet retired, PBGC is responsible for the current and future pensions of about 624,000 people. [BR][BR][b]PBGC's Two Pension Insurance Programs:[/b] The single-employer program protects about 35 million workers and retirees in about 33,500 pension plans. The multiemployer program protects about 9.4 million workers and retirees in more than 1,700 pension plans. Multiemployer plans are set up by collectively bargained agreements involving more than one unrelated employer, generally in one industry. [BR][BR][b]How Pension Plans End:[/b] An employer can voluntarily ask to close its single employer pension plan in either a [A href="http://www.pbgc.gov/publications/factshts/TERMFACT.HTM"]standard or distress termination[/A]. In a [b]standard termination[/b], the plan must have enough money to pay all benefits, whether vested or not, before the plan can end. After workers receive promised benefits, in the form of a lump sum payment or an insurance company annuity, PBGC's guarantee ends. In a [b]distress termination[/b], where the plan does not have enough money to pay all benefits, the employer must prove severe financial distress for instance the likelihood that continuing the plan would force the company to shut down. PBGC will pay guaranteed benefits, usually covering a large part of total earned benefits, and make strong efforts to recover funds from the employer. [BR][BR]In addition, PBGC may seek to close a single-employer plan without the employer's consent to protect the interests of workers, the plan or PBGC's insurance fund. PBGC must act to terminate a plan that cannot pay current benefits. [BR][BR]For multiemployer pension plans that are unable to pay guaranteed benefits when due, PBGC will provide financial assistance to the plan, usually a loan, so that retirees continue receiving their benefits. [BR][BR][b]Premium Rates:[/b][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"] Pension plans pay PBGC yearly insurance premiums: $2.60 per worker or retiree in multiemployer plans; $19 per worker or retiree plus $9 for each $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits in single-employer plans. Premium rates increase only if Congress approves. [BR][/FONT][BR][b]Maximum Guaranteed Benefit:[/b] The maximum pension benefit guaranteed by PBGC is set by law and adjusted yearly. For single-employer plans ended in 2002, workers who retire at age 65 or older can receive up to $3,579.55 a month (or $42,954.60 a year). The guarantee is lower for those who retire early or when there is a benefit for a survivor. [BR][BR][b]PBGC Leadership:[/b] PBGC is headed by an Executive Director who reports to a Board of Directors consisting of the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce and Treasury, with the Secretary of Labor as Chairman. [BR][BR][b]Single copies of publications and fact sheets are available from: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Communications and Public Affairs Department, 1200 K Street NW, Suite 240, Washington, DC 20005-4026.[/b] [/P]
10 PM Biffeman wrote: 
