Most of those transitions took place in the past five years. If your company has made the switch to a cash-balance plan you're probably more than a little confused. The plans are notoriously complicated, for one thing. And most companies do a lousy job of communicating how the change will affect their employees' retirement benefits. The problem is that current disclosure rules place few requirements on the quality of information an employer must provide.
Some companies do an admirable job of informing their employees.
But the widespread complaining about cash-balance plans would indicate that most don't. So here's a primer on who wins and who loses when it comes to cash-balance plans. If you want to know exactly how much your own pension benefit will change under a cash-balance plan, you'll have to contact your benefits department. By law, once the cash-balance plan has been implemented, your employer must provide a personalized statement showing your new balance and old balance within 60 days of your request. But 60 days is a long time.