Funding early retirement

Employees know throughout their careers what to expect when they retire because cash-balance plans provide periodic statements of accounts. In ordinary plans, no detailed reckoning of pension benefits takes place imtil a worker becomes eligible at about age 55. None occurs then except at the employee s behest. The new plans help make what-if calculations early in a career, which can be important to anyone considering an early retirement. In a cash-balance plan, an employer creates a pension account in each worker s name and annually contributes funds on the employee s behalf. The contributed amount represents some percentage of the employee s salary and increases with pay raises. For the... 

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