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单词 pension
释义

pension


pen·sion 1

P0170200 (pĕn′shən)n. A sum of money paid regularly as a retirement benefit or by way of patronage.tr.v. pen·sioned, pen·sion·ing, pen·sions 1. To grant a pension to.2. To retire or dismiss with a pension: "Some French farmers suggest that the Government pension off the older and less efficient farmers" (E.J. Dionne, Jr.).
[Middle English pensioun, payment, from Old French pension, from Latin pēnsiō, pēnsiōn-, from pēnsus, past participle of pendere, to weigh, pay; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]
pen′sion·a·ble adj.

pen·sion 2

P0170300 (päN-syôN′)n.1. A boarding house or small hotel in Europe: "A pension had somewhat less to offer than a hotel; it was always smaller, and never elegant; it sometimes offered breakfast, and sometimes not" (John Irving).2. Accommodations or the payment for accommodations, especially at a boarding house or small hotel in Europe.3. Room and board.
[French, from Old French, payment; see pension1.]

pension

(ˈpɛnʃən) n1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc: a pension paid to a disabled soldier. vb (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (tr) to grant a pension to[C14: via Old French from Latin pēnsiō a payment, from pendere to pay] ˈpensionable adj ˈpensionless adj

pension

(pɑ̃sjɔ̃) (in France and some other countries) n1. (Commerce) a relatively cheap boarding house2. (Commerce) another name for full board[C17: French; extended meaning of pension grant; see pension1]

pen•sion

(ˈpɛn ʃən; Fr. pɑ̃ˈsyɔ̃ for 3 )

n., pl. -sions (-ʃənz; Fr. -ˈsyɔ̃ for 3 )

v. n. 1. a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents for past services, injury or loss sustained, etc. 2. an allowance, annuity, or subsidy. 3. (in Europe) a. a boardinghouse or small hotel. b. room and board. v.t. 4. to grant or pay a pension to. 5. to cause to retire on a pension (usu. fol. by off). [1325–75; Middle English (< Old French) < Latin pēnsiō weighing out, payment, derivative (with -tiō -tion) of pendere to weigh out, pay by weight; (definition 3) < French] pen′sion•a•ble, adj.

pension


Past participle: pensioned
Gerund: pensioning
Imperative
pension
pension
Present
I pension
you pension
he/she/it pensions
we pension
you pension
they pension
Preterite
I pensioned
you pensioned
he/she/it pensioned
we pensioned
you pensioned
they pensioned
Present Continuous
I am pensioning
you are pensioning
he/she/it is pensioning
we are pensioning
you are pensioning
they are pensioning
Present Perfect
I have pensioned
you have pensioned
he/she/it has pensioned
we have pensioned
you have pensioned
they have pensioned
Past Continuous
I was pensioning
you were pensioning
he/she/it was pensioning
we were pensioning
you were pensioning
they were pensioning
Past Perfect
I had pensioned
you had pensioned
he/she/it had pensioned
we had pensioned
you had pensioned
they had pensioned
Future
I will pension
you will pension
he/she/it will pension
we will pension
you will pension
they will pension
Future Perfect
I will have pensioned
you will have pensioned
he/she/it will have pensioned
we will have pensioned
you will have pensioned
they will have pensioned
Future Continuous
I will be pensioning
you will be pensioning
he/she/it will be pensioning
we will be pensioning
you will be pensioning
they will be pensioning
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been pensioning
you have been pensioning
he/she/it has been pensioning
we have been pensioning
you have been pensioning
they have been pensioning
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been pensioning
you will have been pensioning
he/she/it will have been pensioning
we will have been pensioning
you will have been pensioning
they will have been pensioning
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been pensioning
you had been pensioning
he/she/it had been pensioning
we had been pensioning
you had been pensioning
they had been pensioning
Conditional
I would pension
you would pension
he/she/it would pension
we would pension
you would pension
they would pension
Past Conditional
I would have pensioned
you would have pensioned
he/she/it would have pensioned
we would have pensioned
you would have pensioned
they would have pensioned

pension

A French word meaning grant, used in Europe to mean a relatively cheap boarding house.
Thesaurus
Noun1.pension - a regular payment to a person that is intended to allow them to subsist without workingpension - a regular payment to a person that is intended to allow them to subsist without workingregular payment - a payment made at regular timesold-age pension, retirement benefit, retirement check, retirement fund, retirement pension, superannuation - a monthly payment made to someone who is retired from work
Verb1.pension - grant a pension topension offaward, grant - give as judged due or on the basis of merit; "the referee awarded a free kick to the team"; "the jury awarded a million dollars to the plaintiff";"Funds are granted to qualified researchers"

pension

noun allowance, benefit, welfare, annuity, superannuation struggling by on a widow's pension

pension

verbTo remove from active service.Also used with off:retire, superannuate.Idiom: put out to pasture.
Translations
退休金养老金抚恤金

pension

(ˈpenʃən) noun a sum of money paid regularly to a widow, a person who has retired from work, a soldier who has been seriously injured in a war etc. He lives on his pension; a retirement pension. 撫恤金,養老金,退休金 抚恤金,养老金,退休金 ˈpensioner noun a person who receives a pension, especially (old age pensioner) one who receives a retirement pension. 領退休金者 领退休金者pension off to allow to retire, or to dismiss, with a pension. They pensioned him off when they found a younger man for the job. 使某人退休 使某人退休

pension

退休金zhCN

pension


pension,

periodic payments to one who has retired from work because of age or disability. Pensions, originally thought of as charity, are now viewed as an essential part of the social responsibility of employers or of the state. In the Roman Empire there was a well-established pension system to care for soldiers who were disabled or had grown old. The French government early in the 19th cent. and then the British (1834) made provision for superannuated public servants.

In the United States pensions in various forms have been given to veterans of all wars since the Revolution; military pensions are now covered by the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act (1957). Retired servicemen and servicewomen receive, after 20 years of service, 50% of their base pay at time of retirement, with automatic increases as indicated by the Consumer Price Index. Civil-service pensions were developed later in the United States than in W Europe. Old-age pension plans were drawn up by cities for certain groups of public employees—firefighters, police officers, and teachers—which provided for compulsory contributions from the employee. Pensions for federal employees were authorized in 1920.

The idea of extending such protection to all citizens also appeared earlier in Europe (notably in Germany) than in the United States, where it was a 20th-century development (see social securitysocial security,
government program designed to provide for the basic economic security and welfare of individuals and their dependents. The programs classified under the term social security differ from one country to another, but all are the result of government legislation
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). Many corporations and groups (such as labor unions, professional associations, and colleges) had made provision for pensions before the social security legislation was passed in 1935, and many groups now have pension plans that supplement social security.

Until the 1940s, pension plans in private industry were set up primarily on the initiative of the employer. As workers gained the right to submit pension plans to collective bargaining, the number of people covered in the United States by pensions grew from 4.1 million in 1940 to 65.6 million in 1999, about 44% of all workers. With more than $6.9 trillion in assets in 1997 (up from only $2.4 billion in 1940), these plans exert a major impact on the economy because the money is invested in stocks, bonds, and real estate. At the same time, the financial health of pension plans can be adversely affected by drops in the value of their investments, as happened after the late 1990s stock market bubble burst, or the bankruptcy of the employer. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (1974) established regulations to protect pensions from mismanagement and created a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, to insure them. The Pension Protection Act (2006) was intended to strengthen pension plans.

During the 1990s there was a shift in the type of pension plan that employees were covered by. The number of people covered by defined benefit pension plans leveled off as companies attempted to reduce costs by forcing employees to contribute to their own plans, such as 401(k) plans (defined contribution plans), or by terminating the plans. Under a defined-contribution plan, contributions are made to an account for an individual employee, but no specific income is guaranteed at retirement. In a 401(k) plan, the most common type of defined contribution plan, income that would have been paid to the employee is deposited pretax in an account and invested; it may be matched to some degree by a contribution from the employer. Such plans also differ from traditional defined benefit plans in that the contributions are voluntary, and as a result employees are only covered if they choose to contribute to an account. Under such plans employees also may be allowed some degree of control over how the contributions are invested.

Bibliography

See R. Lynn, The Pension Crisis (1983); J. Matthews, Social Security, Medicare and Pensions (1988); R. L. Deaton, The Political Economy of Pensions (1989).

Pension

 

(1) In prerevolutionary Russia and in some foreign countries, the name for a private, occasionally government-sponsored, boarding school providing accommodations for the students.

(2) An obsolete name for a small hotel providing full accommodations to its guests.

(3) Provision of a lodger with full accommodations.


Pension

 

in the USSR, monetary support received by citizens from social consumption funds in old age and in cases of illness and disability. The right to pensions is established by the Constitution of the USSR. Pensions are also paid for prolonged meritorious service and in the case of loss of a breadwinner. They are given for past labor or socially useful activity and ordinarily serve as a permanent and basic source of the means of existence. In the case of loss of a breadwinner, pensions are given to the family as compensation for the labor and other socially useful activity of the deceased. The question of old-age and disability support for working people was always part of the program of the Communist Party. V. I. Lenin wrote that workers have the right to state pensions because “by their labor the workers maintain all the rich classes, and the whole state, and that gives them just as much right to pensions as government servants, who get pensions” (Poln. sobr. soch, 5th ed., vol. 7, p. 175).

State pension insurance for working people was instituted after the October Revolution of 1917. From the very first years of Soviet power, state pensions were awarded in cases of disability or loss of a breadwinner. Old-age pensions for workers in certain sectors of industry were introduced in 1928. They were later applied to all production workers, and by 1937 to office workers as well. The Law on State Pensions that was enacted in 1956 significantly raised the level of pension insurance and broadened the range of people who have the right to pensions. According to this law, pensions are given to production workers, clerical and professional employees, and other citizens covered by state social insurance. Enlisted men, sergeants, and first sergeants who are serving for a regular term are eligible for pensions, as are students at higher, secondary specialized, and other educational institutions. Other citizens may receive pensions if they became invalids as a result of performance of state or public duties or in carrying out the duty of a citizen of the USSR in saving human lives, protecting socialist property, or protecting the socialist legal order. Pensions for loss of a breadwinner may be given to members of the families of deceased citizens in the categories covered by the 1956 law. After passage of the Law on Pensions and Grants to Kolkhoz Members in 1964, a single system of pension insurance was formed that covered virtually all working people and members of their families.

In 1974 a total of 44 million people in the USSR were receiving pensions, and state expenditures for pensions totaled 20.7 billion rubles. As a group, pensioners break down into 60 percent production workers and clerical and professional employees, 30 percent kolkhoz members, and 10 percent former military servicemen. Basic to the Soviet system are the principles that pension insurance is guaranteed by the state without any deductions from workers’ earnings and that pensions are to be paid by state agencies from the capital in nationwide funds. Uniform eligibility rules have been established for receiving pensions in the event of old age, disability, or the loss of a breadwinner. The retirement age has been standardized, and so has the term of service required in order to receive a pension. The size of pensions is computed according to a uniform system, which is based on earnings but gives special advantages to low-paid categories of employees.

The rules and conditions for assigning and paying pensions are regulated by the Statute on Rules for Assigning and Paying State Pensions, which was ratified by an Aug. 3, 1972, decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Collected Decrees of the USSR, 1972, no. 17, art. 86) with the amendments and supplements of Nov. 21, 1973 (Collected Decrees of the USSR, 1973, no. 25, art. 143). The pension system is also regulated by the Statute on Rules for Assigning and Paying State Pensions to Kolkhoz Members, ratified by an Oct. 17, 1964, decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Collected Decrees of the USSR, 1964, no. 20, art. 128, with amendments and supplements) and by certain other normative acts.

Old-age pensions are awarded for life to production and office workers and kolkhoz members regardless of their ability to work. Men with at least 25 years’ work experience can retire with a pension at 60, and women with at least 20 years’ work experience can retire at 55. Old-age pensions are granted five years earlier but with the same work-experience requirement to military personnel who have become invalids as a result of wounds, concussions, or mutilation incurred in the defense of the USSR or performance of other military duties or as a result of an illness related to time spent at the front. A similar pension arrangement applies to persons who have worked at least 15 calendar years in the Far North regions or at least 20 calendar years in areas equivalent to the Far North. Women who have given birth to five or more children and raised them to the age of eight are also privileged to receive early pensions, qualifying for pensions at 50 if they have worked for at least 15 years.

Workers and employees in subsurface jobs, in jobs with dangerous working conditions, or in hot workshops as set forth in List No. 1 (a special list of production shops, occupations, and positions) also qualify for early pensions: men in these categories who have worked at least 20 years can receive pensions at 50, and women who have worked at least 15 years, at 45. Production and office workers in other jobs with difficult working conditions (defined by List No. 2) are granted pensions at 55 with at least 25 years’ work experience for men and at 50 with 20 years’ experience for women. Female employees of textile industry enterprises that are included on a special list receive pensions at 50 if they have at least 20 years’ work experience. For blind production and office workers pensions are granted at 50 to men with at least 15 years’ work experience and at 40 to women with at least ten years’ experience. For production and clerical office workers who are midgets, that is, victims of pituitary dwarfism, pensions are granted to men with at least 20 years’ work experience at 45 and to women with 15 years’ experience at 40.

The amount of the old-age pension is set at a percentage of the worker’s actual wages and ranges from 50 to 100 percent of earnings. In no case can the pension be less than 20 rubles per month for a kolkhoz member or 45 rubles for a production or office worker who meets the work-experience requirements. The maximum monthly pension is 120 rubles.

Additional allowances amounting to 10 percent of the pension are added to the old-age pension (within the limits of the maximum pension) for production and office workers with a continuous work record of more than 15 years or whose total work experience is at least ten years greater than the amount necessary to receive a pension. Nonworking pensioners who have dependents unable to work receive a 10-percent additional allowance for one dependent and a 15-percent additional allowance for two or more.

Existing legislation establishes a privileged position for working old-age pensioners. Certain categories of employees, including production workers, medical attendants, nurses, and nonprofessional medical personnel, and certain workers in communications, receive a full old-age pension. All pensioners are permitted to work two months a year while continuing to receive a full pension in addition to wages. Pensions to kolkhoz members are paid in full regardless of the incomes received by the pensioners at the kolkhoz or their earnings at state agricultural enterprises.

Disability pensions are granted to production and office workers and kolkhoz members who have suffered a permanent or protracted loss of ability to work as a result of a work-related injury or illness or any other illness. Disability pensions based on occupational injury or illness are established without regard to length of service, and such pensions are larger than the disability pension for non-work-related illness. The length of total working time needed for a disability pension depends on the age of the worker at the time of application for the pension and on the sex of the worker; for production and office workers it depends on working conditions as well. Pension amounts are set in accordance with the cause of the disability, the disability group, the job performed by the worker, and the worker’s total earnings.

Additional allowances of 10 percent are added to disability pensions (within the limits of the maximum pension) granted to production and office workers who are invalids of the first and second disability groups as a consequence of non-work-related illness and who have achieved a work record of from ten to 15 years’ continuous employment. Workers in these groups who have more than 15 years of continuous service receive supplements of 15 percent. Nonworking invalids of the first and second groups with dependents who are unable to work receive 10 rubles per month for one dependent and 20 rubles for two, regardless of the cause of disability. Invalids of the first group with three or more dependents who are unable to work receive a monthly pension supplement of 30 rubles. They also receive a supplement of 15 rubles a month for nursing care, regardless of the cause of disability.

In the case of loss of a breadwinner in the family of a production or clerical worker or kolkhoz member, dependents who are unable to work receive a pension if the breadwinner dies or is officially missing. In such cases, children, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren of the deceased who are under the age of 16 (18 for students) are considered as family members who may be classed as dependents. Brothers, sisters, and grandchildren of the deceased are eligible for pension benefits if they do not have able-bodied parents; the father, mother, and spouse, if they are aged or invalids (invalids of the first and second groups for the members of a kolkhoz member’s family). Nondependent children, as well as parents who are unable to work but were not dependents of the deceased, have the right to a pension if they later lose the source of their means of existence. Pensions are granted to the families of production and office workers and kolkhoz members who had died as a result of a work-related injury or illness and to the families of deceased pensioners regardless of the length of service of the breadwinner. Pensions are granted to the families of persons who had died as a result of a non-work-related illness or injury on the condition that on the day of death the breadwinner had fulfilled the term of work required for a disability pension. In families with two dependents who are unable to work, the pension in case of loss of a breadwinner is 90 to 100 percent of the amount of the old-age pension computed as a percentage of the breadwinner’s earnings; in families with three or more members unable to work, it is 100 to 110 percent of the amount of the old-age pension.

Families with three or more dependents that have lost a breadwinner who was a production worker or clerical or professional employee are eligible for a pension supplement of 15 percent (within the limits of the maximum pension) in cases where death resulted from a work-related injury or illness. An additional allowance of 10 percent is added to the pension of families whose breadwinner had a work record of from ten to 15 years’ continuous service and died from a non-work-related illness; if the period of continuous service was more than 15 years, the allowance is 15 percent. One general pension is awarded for all eligible family members in the event of the loss of a breadwinner.

A production or office worker who has not worked the term required for a full pension may be granted a pension for an incomplete term of work in an amount proportional to work experience but not less than one-quarter of the full pension. In the event of the worker’s death, the pension may go to his family. When such a pension is granted, no privileges associated with age, work experience, or pension amount are included, and no allowances are added.

Prolonged meritorious service pensions are ordinarily granted to workers in education and public health, flight personnel in civil aviation, and certain categories of performers in theaters and other entertainment enterprises regardless of age and ability to work. To establish such a pension, a definite period of work in positions listed in the decrees of the Council of Ministers of the USSR that regulate the rules and conditions for granting these pensions is necessary. Special rules were established concerning pension support for research workers by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of Sept. 28, 1949.

Personal pensions are established for persons who have made special contributions to the state through revolutionary activities, state and public service, and service to the economy. They may also be provided for outstanding contributions to culture, science, and technology. In case of the death of a person who has merited a personal pension, the pension may be granted to members of his family. All-Union, republic, and local personal pensions may be provided, depending on the services rendered. Personal pensioners receive certain stipulated privileges, including exemption from payment of 50 percent of their rental, heat, and utilities costs, an 80-percent discount on medicines and free prostheses.

Pensions are administered by agencies of the ministries of social security of the Union republics. They are awarded by commissions consisting of representatives of local government agencies and representatives of trade union bodies (where pensions for production and office workers are concerned) or of the kolkhozes (when granting pensions to kolkhoz members). Pensions to officers of the Soviet Army and Navy are awarded by agencies of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR and are based on military rank and term of service. Citizens who have the right to more than one pension from the same agency or to pensions from different agencies are granted a single pension of their choice. Pensions are not taxed.

Pension insurance for working people has been instituted in all other socialist countries, with differences that reflect specific features of each country’s historical development and varying levels of economic development. In most of the socialist countries the retirement-pension age is 60 for men and 55 for women.

Agreements on cooperation in the field of social security have been concluded between the USSR and some other socialist countries; these agreements regulate such matters as the granting and payment of pensions.

In the capitalist countries pensions represent a return of part of the worker’s wages that have been deducted for this purpose directly, in the form of pension-insurance payments, and indirectly, in the form of payments by the employer. Improvements in the system of pension insurance are usually accompanied by a rise in workers’ payments, as has been the case in Great Britain, the United States, and France. There are numerous restrictions on pension insurance, including a high retirement age (generally 65 for men and 60 for women) and the provision of disability pensions usually only to those completely unable to work. Other problems include the small size of pensions, the imposition of probationary periods before pension-insurance and other payments are made, the ineligibility for pensions of workers in agriculture and small enterprises, and the workers’ lack of control over the management of pension systems.

There are three state systems of pension insurance in the capitalist countries: social insurance, universal pensions, and public assistance. These systems are ordinarily used in varying combinations in each country. The social insurance system is the most comprehensive, and the institution of this system has been one of the chief demands of the workers’ movement. The form in which social insurance presently exists in the capitalist countries does not, however, meet these demands, because pension funds are chiefly formed from deductions from the worker’s own wages.

The universal pension system has been instituted in just seven countries: Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Under this system, a special tax is collected from all inhabitants between the ages of 16–18 and 62–65. The state contributes certain amounts to the insurance funds. Employers do not make insurance payments for employees, but in some cases a certain part of the enterprise’s profit is deducted to pay pensions.

Systems based on the principle of public assistance have been instituted in Australia, partially in New Zealand, and elsewhere. Public assistance pension funds are formed entirely from general tax revenues. Although the entire population is formally eligible for these benefits, public assistance is received in fact only by those whose weekly income is below a certain level, and then only after a humiliating verification procedure. In addition to general state pension systems, almost all capitalist countries have pension systems for certain categories of the population, such as state clerical and professional employees, railroad workers, seamen, miners, farmers, and artisans.

The isolated measures to improve pension insurance for the working people in the capitalist countries—usually implemented with the workers’ own funds—do not resolve the critical problem of support in case of old age or illness. The establishment in some countries of private pension plans that are supported by individual organizations, associations, and enterprises is purely charitable and is not backed by any guarantees. For the working people, improvement in pension insurance is one of the chief aims of class struggle. To some extent, the development of pension legislation in the capitalist countries is tied to the objective needs of the capitalist system and the necessity for a stable work force, for preservation and enlargement of profit, and for other factors. However, the adoption of these laws, a certain broadening of the range of persons who receive pensions, and the institution in a number of cases of pension supplements for families are all primarily the result of the struggle of the working class and other working people for their social and economic rights. Moreover, all of these measures can be considered defensive actions aimed at neutralizing the working class and attenuating the class struggle under conditions of state-monopoly capitalism.

REFERENCE

Sotsial’noe obespechenie i strakhovanie v SSSR. Moscow, 1972.

V. A. ACHARKAN and R. M. TSIVILEV

pension

1. a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work 2. a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire 3. a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme 4. any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc.

pension


pension

(1) A regular payment plan intended to provide a person who retired from a job with a secure income for life.
(2) A monthly payment from a pension.

pension


Pension

A benefit, usually money, paid regularly to retired employees or their survivors by private businesses and federal, state, and local governments. Employers are not required to establish pension benefits but do so to attract qualified employees.

The first pension plan in the United States was created by the American Express Company in 1875. A few labor unions and state and local governments began to offer pension plans shortly thereafter, and by 1935 governments in half the states and many businesses were offering pension plans. In 1997 about half of all U.S. workers had pension plans.

Employers establish pension plans by paying a certain amount of money into a pension fund. The money paid into this fund is not taxed to the employer, and it is not taxed to the employee until the employee retires and begins to collect pension benefits. The employer gives control of the pension fund to a trustee, who may invest the money in stocks and bonds and other financial endeavors to increase the fund. Some pension plans require the employee to make a small, periodic contribution to the fund.

The amount of pension that a pensioner receives depends on the type of pension plan. Pension plans generally can be divided into two categories: defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. A defined benefit plan provides a set amount of benefits to a pensioner. Under a defined contribution plan, the employer places a certain amount of money in the employee's name into the pension fund and makes no promises concerning the level of pension benefits that the employee will receive upon retirement. Employers using defined contribution plans contribute an amount into the pension fund based on the employee's salary. As a result, higher-paid employees receive larger pensions than do lower-paid employees.

The same is true for defined benefit plans: employers tend to offer larger pensions to higher-paid employees. The difference between the two types of plans is that in a defined contribution plan, the employee assumes the risk of investment failure because the funds are not insured by the federal government. Under most defined benefit plans, the employer assumes the risk that pension funds will not be available. Employees assume little risk because most funds are insured by the federal government to a certain limit.

The most important issue to pensioners is the potential loss of their pension benefits. This issue is of less concern when the government is the employer because governments have access to additional funds. Such is not the case with private businesses. Before the 1970s employees did not always receive their promised pension benefits. An employee could lose his or her pension if the employer went out of business and employers could fire long-time employees just before their pensions vested to avoid paying pensions. Citing the profound effect that pension plans have on interstate commerce and the economic security of the country, Congress enacted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (29 U.S.C.A. § 1001 et seq.) to regulate pension plans created by private businesses other than religious organizations.

ERISA is a complex collection of federal statutes that take precedence over most state pension laws. The act encourages the creation of pension funds by making employer contributions to pension funds tax free. ERISA also is designed to ensure that pension funds promised to an employee will be available. It establishes rules for the vesting of pensions based on the employee's age and length of employment. Under the law an employer using a pension plan that is not funded by the employees may choose one of several methods for vesting of pensions. An employer may allow all pension benefits to become nonforfeitable once the employee has completed five years of employment. In the alternative, an employee may be guaranteed a percentage of pension funds according to length of service, with the percentage increasing as the length of service increases. An employee with three years of service is guaranteed 20 percent of the derived benefit from the employer contributions to the pension plan. After four years the employee has a right to 40 percent of the benefits; after five years the percentage is 60; after six years the percentage is 80; and an employee who completes seven years of service becomes fully vested. An employee is always entitled to the amount of money she or he has contributed to a pension fund.

Under ERISA, the fiduciaries who control the pension funds must meet certain reporting requirements. The act restricts the kinds of investments that trustees can make using pension funds. It mandates that employers make annual contributions to pension funds, and it devises formulas for setting minimum contribution levels. These formulas are created in actuarial tables based on such factors as the turnover of the participants in the plan, the life expectancy of the participants, the amount of money in pensions promised to employees, and the success of the pension fund's investments. The act authorizes criminal penalties for violators of pension laws and provides Civil Law remedies to victims of pension misuse or abuse.

An employer who is delinquent in making contributions to the pension fund may have to pay penalties. ERISA requires employers to report to pension holders significant facts regarding the pension fund, such as a summary describing in clear language how the plan works, what benefits it provides, and how such benefits can be received. The employer also must report annually to each employee the amount of benefits that have accrued and have vested, and the earliest date on which the employee's pension will vest as of the date of the report.

ERISA created the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to ensure the payment of certain benefits of pension plans. PBGC is a government corporation within the U.S. department of labor that is governed by the secretaries of labor, commerce, and treasury, and funded by premiums collected from pension plans. If an employer is unable to meet pension obligations, the PBGC may make the payments for the employer. PBGC covers only defined benefit pension plans, with the exception of church-based pension plans. Religious organizations are excepted because courts and legislatures consider church-based pensions to be an ecclesiastical matter beyond the authority of the law.

An employee cannot lose pension benefits by retiring early. Under defined benefit plans, the employee may begin to receive pension benefits upon reaching the normal retirement age of 65 years. If an employee retires before reaching age 59.5 and begins drawing from his pension, his pension payments are taxed at a 10 percent annual rate in addition to any regular income taxes. This excise tax is levied because pension funds are designed to promote security after retirement.

The excise tax does not apply to a pension given to a surviving spouse when the employee dies before the pension is fully paid, even if the employee dies before reaching age 59.5. Employees who become disabled before age 59.5 do not have to pay the excise tax, nor do persons who specifically choose to receive the pension payments as an Annuity or periodically. In addition, the excise tax does not apply to pensions of employees over the age of 55 years who have separated from their employer, certain pensions paid for medical expenses, and pension payments made pursuant to certain divorce-related court orders.

ERISA does not regulate pension plans with 25 or fewer participants or plans that are solely for business partners or a sole proprietor. Employees of businesses not covered by ERISA may look to state statutes governing pensions that contain regulations and requirements similar to those in ERISA.

Congress refined the tax consequences of pensions in January 1996. Under the Pension Source Act (Pub. L. No. 104-95, amending title 4 of U.S.C.A. § 114), a state that imposes income taxes may not tax pension benefits earned in the state if the pensioner is living in a state that does not impose personal Income Tax.

Pensions are an attractive component of employee compensation packages. The money that the employer withholds during the working life of the employee is not taxed, and the money in a pension fund can be increased through investments. When the pensioned employee retires, she or he can ask for the entire pension in one lump sum or can take the pension as an annuity, which is a series of payments that lasts for a specified period of time. If the retiree lives long enough, she or he will receive more money than the employer originally withheld. If the pensioner dies before the pension is fully paid, her or his surviving spouse or another designated survivor may receive the remainder of the pension. A retiree who has worked at several companies may receive several pensions.

Individuals who are self-employed have their own pension options. A self-employed worker may establish a Keogh Plan, which is a type of retirement plan for self-employed workers that is comparable to a pension plan. Under a Keogh plan, the worker makes tax-free payments into a fund and receives larger payments upon retirement.

An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is another way to provide for security in retirement. An IRA is a personal retirement account that workers may establish in addition to, or instead of, a pension. Employers may establish similar personal retirement accounts for their employees. These accounts are called 401K plans, after the section of the Internal Revenue Code that authorizes them. Under a 401K plan, a worker deposits a portion of his or her gross earnings into the account to avoid income tax on that portion of the earnings. The earnings are subject to taxation when the retiring worker receives them. If the worker is in a lower tax bracket by retirement, he or she will end up paying less tax on the portion of the earnings in the IRA.

Pension benefits are distinct from other retirement benefits such as Social Security and medical assistance. A pension may reduce slightly the amount of Social Security benefits that a government employee receives.

Further readings

Abramson, Stephen. 2003. Financial Professional's Guide to Qualified Retirement Plans: Planning, Implementation, Operation, and Compliance. 2d ed. New York: Aspen.

Driggers, Martin S., Jr. 1996. "Minister's Pension Contract Is an 'Ecclesiastical Matter' Not Reviewable by the Court." South Carolina Law Review 48 (autumn).

Gregory, David. 1987. "The Scope of ERISA Preemption of State Law: A Study in Effective Federalism." University of Pittsburgh Law Review 48 (winter).

Lantry, Terry L. 1996. "Retirees' Pensions Insulated from State Income Tax." Taxation for Lawyers 25 (November-December).

Lewis, Barbara, and Dan Otto. 2002. "Sunset Cruise; Take Advantage of New Laws to Make Your Pensions More Valuable." Los Angeles Daily Journal (January 15).

Peterson, Pete. 1996. Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old?: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family, and Your Country. New York: David McKay.

Snyder, Michael B. 1999. Qualified Plan Investments: Fiduciary Responsibilities and Strategies. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group.

Cross-references

Social Security.

pension

the payment of a sum of money, usually a periodical payment, for past services. A state pension is payable as a welfare benefit.

PENSION. A stated and certain allowance granted by the government to an individual, or those who represent him, for valuable services performed by him for the country. The government of the United States has, by general laws, granted pensions to revolutionary soldiers; vide 1 Story's Laws U. S. 68; 101, 224, 304, 363, 371, 451; 2 Id. 903, 915, 983, 1008, 1240; 3 Id. 1662, 1747, 1778, 1794, 1825, 1927; 4 Id. 2112, 2270, 2329, 2336, 2366; to naval officers and sailors; 1 Sto. L. U. S. 474, 677, 769; 2 Id. 1284 3 Id. 1565; to the army generally; 1 Id. 360, 412, 448; 2 Id. 833; 3 Id 1573 to the militia generally; 1 Id. 255, 360, 412, 488 2 Id. 1382; 3 Id. 1873; in the Seminole war, 3 Id. 1706.

Pension


Pension

A retirement plan in which an employer makes a contribution into an account each month. The contributions are invested on behalf of an employee, who may begin to make withdrawals after retirement. Typically, pensions are tax-deferred, meaning that the employee does not pay taxes on the funds in the pension until he/she begins making withdrawals. Pensions may have defined contributions, defined benefits, or both. See also: 401(k), IRA.

Pension.

A pension is an employer plan that's designed to provide retirement income to employees who have vested -- or worked enough years to qualify for the income.

These defined benefit plans promise a fixed income, usually paid for the employee's lifetime or the combined lifetimes of the employee and his or her spouse.

The employer contributes to the plan, invests the assets, and pays out the benefit, which is typically based on a formula that includes final salary and years on the job.

You pay federal income tax on your pension at your regular rate, so a percentage is withheld from each check. If the state where you live taxes income, those taxes are withheld too. However, you're not subject to Social Security or Medicare withholding on pension income.

In contrast, the retirement income you receive from a defined contribution plan depends on the amounts that were added to the plan, the way the assets were invested, and their investment performance.

The way a particular plan is structured determines if you, your employer, or both you and your employer contribute and what the ceiling on that contribution is.

pension

a payment received by individuals who have retired from paid employment or have reached the government's pensionable age, in the form of a regular weekly or monthly income, or as a lump sum. There are three main types of pension scheme:
  1. state retirement pensions operated by he Government, whereby the employee pays NATIONAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS over his working life, giving entitlement to an old age pension on retirement of an amount considered to provide some minimum standard of living. State pensions may be based on earnings or may be a flat rate, or combination of the two. See DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS;
  2. occupational pensions operated by private sector employers whereby the employee and the employer each make regular contributions to a PENSION FUND or INSURANCE COMPANY scheme, the pensioner then receiving a pension which is related to the amount of his contributions (annual contributions x number of years worked).

    Occupational pensions take two main forms:

    1. defined benefit, where the pension is linked to final salary. Here the employer is liable to make up any shortfalls in the PENSION FUND. This type of scheme is also known as a ‘final salary’ scheme.
    2. defined contribution, or money purchase scheme, where the size of contributions but not the final pensions benefits are fixed. The size of pension benefits are determined by the investment performance of the fund. The employee rather than the employer bears the risk.

    In the UK there is a shift from defined benefit to defined contribution schemes, because of employer fears about their future liabilities;

  3. personal pension plans (PPP) operated by insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions which provide ‘customized’ pension arrangements for individuals depending on their personal circumstances. Since a PPP scheme is not tied to a particular employer the problem of transferring pension rights should the person move jobs is much reduced. A recent innovation in the UK is the ‘stakeholder pension’, aimed at low and medium income earners who work for employers who do not already have an occupational scheme. Employers with more than 5 employees are obliged to designate a ‘stakeholder pension’ provider for their workforce but they are under no obligation to make contributions to the scheme. Nor are employees obliged to subscribe. Approved providers of stakeholder pensions are required to levy low charges to participants. See CONTRACTING OUT.

pension

a payment, received by individuals who have retired from paid employment or who have reached the government's pensionable age, in the form of a regular weekly or monthly income or paid as a lump sum. There are three main types of pension scheme:
  1. state retirement pensions, operated by the government, whereby the employee pays NATIONAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS over his or her working life, giving entitlement to an old-age pension on retirement of an amount considered to provide some minimum standard of living;
  2. occupational pensions, operated by private sector employers, whereby the employee and employer each make regular contributions to a PENSION FUND or INSURANCE COMPANY scheme, the pensioner then receiving a pension that is related to the amount of his or her contributions (annual contributions x number of years worked);personal pension plans (PPP), operated by insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions, that provide ‘customized’ pension arrangements for individuals depending on their personal circumstances. Since a PPP scheme is not tied to a particular employer, the problem of transferring pension rights should the person move job is much reduced.

Pension

Payments made periodically of (generally) a definite amount for a specified period (usually life) from an employer-funded plan to workers who have met the stated requirements. Its primary purpose is to provide retirement income.

pension


  • all
  • noun
  • verb

Synonyms for pension

noun allowance

Synonyms

  • allowance
  • benefit
  • welfare
  • annuity
  • superannuation

Synonyms for pension

verb to remove from active service

Synonyms

  • retire
  • superannuate

Synonyms for pension

noun a regular payment to a person that is intended to allow them to subsist without working

Related Words

  • regular payment
  • old-age pension
  • retirement benefit
  • retirement check
  • retirement fund
  • retirement pension
  • superannuation

verb grant a pension to

Synonyms

  • pension off

Related Words

  • award
  • grant
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