Expert: Allen - 5/29/2009

Question
I am currently retired and have 3 other pensions on top of my Social Security as my monthly income. In our present state of a poor economy with companies filing bankruptcy are my private pension secure? I could not exist without these pensions in addition to my Social Security.

Answer
Under almost all circumstances the pensions are secure. The money in the pension trust account is separate from the assets of the company that established the plan. In the event the company goes bankrupt, the money in the pension trust account can not be used by the company or paid to its creditors. If the company does go bankrupt and the assets in the plan are not sufficient to provide all benefits, then a federal government agency (the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or PBGC) assumes responsibility. The only potentisal problem is that the PBGC only pays benefits up to a certain amount for any one employer. However, that amount is fairly large.