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IBM Reopens Its Frozen Pension Plan, Saving the Company Millions

Traditional pension plans haven’t come back. But the news from IBM might lead you to think so.

Last month, IBM thawed out a defined benefit pension plan that it had frozen more than 15 years ago. The company has also stopped making contributions into employee 401(k) accounts.

These moves are startling, because, on the surface, at least, IBM seems to be reversing a decades-long trend of corporations moving away from traditional pension plans. With the old plans, companies promised to pay employees retirement income that rewarded them for long years of service. But these plans were expensive, and IBM and hundreds of other firms instead began to emphasize 401(k)s that moved the primary responsibility for saving and investing to workers.

IBM’s new approach is significant because the company has been a leader in employee benefit policymaking. What it is doing now is no simple return to…

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