At many Mass. employers, pensions are thing of the past

The Boston Globe reports:

Retailer TJX Cos.' recent decision to close its pension plan to new employees adds another large Massachusetts employer to a growing list of local and national companies that have concluded the old-style pension system is too expensive and uncertain to maintain.

Major hospital chains Baystate Health in Springfield and Caritas Christi Health Care, the network owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, also have closed their plans to new employees since 2004.

Nationally, corporate giants such as Verizon Communications Inc. and IBM Corp. are backing away from the guaranteed pension plans employees once counted on as a bedrock of their retirement.

Broadly, executives say they're worried about the unpredictable future costs it will take to fund the pensions, known as defined-benefit programs, in which employers agree to provide a paycheck to retirees for as long as they, or their survivors, live.

It's pretty difficult to make promises when your earnings are based on unpredictable future consumer demand.Government workers will be the last pensions to go because politicians have little concern about future taxpayers.