GE’s Gaping Pension Deficit Is Just a Tiny Part of Companies’ $269 Billion Gap
- A decade of ultra-low interest rates offsets stock market gain
- Plan assets return 12% in 2019, but liabilities grow even more
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General Electric Co.’s gaping pension deficit certainly stands out for its size. But the company is hardly the only one at risk of potentially shortchanging some of its employees come retirement.
All across corporate America, underfunded pensions have become the norm. Even now, a decade after the financial crisis, the largest plans face a shortfall of $269 billion, right about where it was 10 years ago. Years of low interest rates have largely offset gains in the stock market. Companies haven’t helped matters by lavishing money on shareholder rewards and clinging to assumptions about returns that proved to be too rosy.