Description: Article from Pension Section News, May 2007, No. 64, discusses the expectations of a pension plan. When people get what they expect, they are happy. When people do not get what they expect, they get upset. A lot of Americans are upset today with their retirement plans. The Financial Accounting Standards Board FASB and Congress are taking action, but their actions may create more problems than they solve. Underlying everything is a substantial disconnect between rule-makers and the public. The public has a more simplistic view of a retirement plan than rule-makers do. Rule-makers need to keep in mind the simplistic way ordinary people think of a retirement plan.

Description: Congress once again turns to defined benefit pension plans as a misguided source for financing programs that have nothing to do with retirement.