Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 5 · column 1 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
ine new law is designed to protect not only workers, but also the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), the pension provider of last resort that has to step in when companies renege on their promises. The PBGC is ultimately funded by—who else?—the U.S. taxpayers. If enough companies fail to fund their pensions, the potential bailout could make the savings and loans bailout look like chump change.
The new law is enormous: almost 1,000 pages that cover 100 tax revisions. The average tax-paying American is probably wondering, After cutting through the obscure points and mountains of legalese, how will the Pension Protection Act of 2006 impact me? Lange offers a few insights:
• Employees must make the huge psychological shift away from “someone will take care of me” to “I must take care of myself.” As more employers decide to terminate their defined benefit plans, employees who had been participants in the plan will be at risk for losing their pensions (worst case scenario), or reduced pensions (best case scenario).
New employees would be required to participate in defined contribution plans— which transfer greater responsibility to the employee to save for retirement and assume all of the investment risk. And if
95.4%