Wellington on CNN FN

Don Wellington, former Treasury Department attorney and policy advisor, appeared on CNN FN cable network's "Your Money."  He was interviewed regarding Administration and Congressional proposals to change the interest rates used for purposes of funding pension plans and calculating lump sum payments to participants.

Mr. Wellington, of Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s Los Angeles office, discussed the impact these proposals are likely to have on employers that sponsor pension plans and on the employees that participate in those plans.  He explained that these proposals are important because "We want to make sure that employers don't just throw up their hands, say, 'These plans are too expensive,' and then just terminate them, because then everybody really loses."  When asked whether workers in "smokestack industries" really want defined benefit pension plans to continue, especially with the prevalence of 401(k) plans, he responded that "workers want to have a mix. . . You want to have that fixed part of your benefit that you know is going to be there, that's guaranteed. But you also want. . .an account, where. . . like your 401(k) plan, you can get . . . some of that upswing in the market."