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What is the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)?

PBGC is a federal corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. It currently protects the pensions of 44.1 million American workers and retirees in 30,330 private single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans. PBGC receives no funds from general tax revenues. Operations are financed by insurance premiums set by Congress and paid by sponsors of defined benefit plans, investment income, assets from pension plans trusteed by PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans.

PBGC guarantees "basic benefits" earned before your plan ended, which include:

• Pension benefits at normal retirement age
• Most early retirement benefits
• Annuity benefits for survivors of plan participants
• Disability benefits for disabilities that occurred before the date the plan ended

PBGC does not guarantee:

• Health and welfare benefits
• Vacation pay
• Severance benefits
• Lump-sum death benefits for a death that occurs after the date the plan ended
• Disability benefits for a disability that occurs after the date the plan ended

Legal Limits on PBGC's guarantees

• Generally, PBGC does not guarantee any monthly pension amount that is greater than the monthly benefit your plan would have provided if you had retired at your normal retirement age.
• The maximum amount that PBGC guarantees is set each year under provisions of ERISA.
• If your plan was created or amended to increase benefits within five years before it ended, your benefits may not be fully guaranteed.

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