Finance
Fact-checked

At SmartCapitalMind, we're committed to delivering accurate, trustworthy information. Our expert-authored content is rigorously fact-checked and sourced from credible authorities. Discover how we uphold the highest standards in providing you with reliable knowledge.

Learn more...

What is an Unfunded Pension Plan?

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

A pension plan is a retirement plan set up by a company, which guarantees a dollar amount paid per month based on the number of years an employee worked with the company. Usually employees must work 20-30 years before being able to collect a pension. Employees make contributions to their pension, or take a slightly lower wage in order to be able to collect a pension at a later date.

When you have an unfunded pension plan, this means that the company didn’t make any savings over the year to cover employees now receiving a pension. It also means that contributions made by current employees are being used to pay the pension of current retirees. This can be a dangerous situation for the person collecting a pension from the unfunded pension plan. If anything happens to the company, or current contributions to the plan drop, or if the workforce is diminished, the company has no way to continue to make pension payments.

With an unfunded pension plan, a company hasn't set aside any savings to cover workers in retirement.
With an unfunded pension plan, a company hasn't set aside any savings to cover workers in retirement.

Another issue at hand is that current employee contributions to an unfunded pension plan may not ensure their own pensions or retirement. Furthermore, the employees of today may be financing a lot of pensions for others depending upon how many retirees exist. If there are more retirees in a company than there are employees, an unfunded pension plan can break the company, since it may owe far more in yearly pension payments than it collects from current workers.

Employees make contributions to their pension, or take a slightly lower wage in order to be able to collect a pension at a later date.
Employees make contributions to their pension, or take a slightly lower wage in order to be able to collect a pension at a later date.

Unfortunately, recourse for collecting from an unfunded pension plan if the company becomes insolvent is not available. Employees, if they qualify in age, may be able to collect a higher amount of social security payments, but it is usually not enough to make up the difference between what they would have received from their pension. Several large companies that have collapsed have left employees faced with difficult choices because they had unfunded pension plans. After assuming for most of their working lives that they’d receive a pension, these former and current employees are suddenly faced with having no pension to collect, since no money was put aside to fund the plan.

A pension is a financial vehicle that is essential to an individual's retirement planning.
A pension is a financial vehicle that is essential to an individual's retirement planning.

To address this legitimate situation, many companies have switched to 401ks, IRAs or employee cash accounts to help fund retirement. Money to retire upon is based not on what the company has, but on what an employee has invested (possibly matched by company funds). The employee and not the company owns these plans. Collapse of the company can thus have no effect on money available. However, money invested in such plans is subject to risk or loss if the employee makes bad investment choices or interest rates or the stock market take a downturn. Yet, since unfunded pension plans still exist, this issue will continue to be a problem, and is likely to most affect those who have worked their whole lives, and now face no financial security in retirement.

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent SmartCapitalMind contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Learn more...
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent SmartCapitalMind contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Learn more...

You might also Like

Discussion Comments

anon154100

yes, but of course, you as an individual human are fully expected to live up to your obligations and honor your debts.

SauteePan

Cafe41-While defined benefit retirement plans are popular with employees, they will probably be cut or eliminated in the future because companies can no longer afford to pay salaries for people that are no longer working.

This is especially when a pension actuary puts the life span of most Americans at about age 80. This means that some people might spend more time in retirement than they did working.

If you work for a company that still offers a personal pension plan, try to diversify your retirement savings with other investments in case they ever eliminate the defined pension plan.

cafe41

A retirement pension plan was created to attract long term employees. It originated in the fifties but now many companies are struggling to make those pension payments.

For example, General Motors’ defined pension plan paid out about five billion dollars in just pension benefits. This puts the company in a severe disadvantage because it has to pay out all of these benefits from no productivity.

This is money that they could have used in research and development to create better and more marketable cars which will grow their market and create additional jobs for other people.

Post your comments
Login:
Forgot password?
Register:
    • With an unfunded pension plan, a company hasn't set aside any savings to cover workers in retirement.
      By: emiliezhang
      With an unfunded pension plan, a company hasn't set aside any savings to cover workers in retirement.
    • Employees make contributions to their pension, or take a slightly lower wage in order to be able to collect a pension at a later date.
      By: Hunor Kristo
      Employees make contributions to their pension, or take a slightly lower wage in order to be able to collect a pension at a later date.
    • A pension is a financial vehicle that is essential to an individual's retirement planning.
      By: edbockstock
      A pension is a financial vehicle that is essential to an individual's retirement planning.