The PBGC announced Friday it would no longer require large single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans to pay their premiums twice a year.
Plans will now have to calculate and pay premiums only once, beginning with the 2014 plan year. Premiums for the year are now due Oct. 15, confirmed spokesman Marc Hopkins.
“As promised earlier this year, we want to lessen the hassle so companies will be encouraged to keep their plans going,” said Joshua Gotbaum, director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., in a news release. “And judging from the feedback, we're on the right track.”
Previously, single-employer and multiemployer pension plans covering more than 500 people were required to calculate and pay their premiums twice a year.
For 2014, single-employer plans will pay $49 per participant per year, with a variable rate premium of $14 per $1,000 of underfunding. Multiemployer plans will pay $12 per participant per year.