VOA慢速英语20060908a

ECONOMICS REPORT - Bush Signs Law to Strengthen Pension PlansBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, September 08, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.


The president signs the new pension bill into law.

In August, President Bush signed a bill making major changes to retirement¹ plans operated by companies. These pension plans provide defined payments and services, called benefits, to retired² workers. The new law gives workers a better chance to get the retirement benefits they have earned.

The new law requires most private companies that provide pensions to have enough money to pay for one hundred percent of benefits for workers who retire. Companies have seven years to fully³ fund their pension plans. The air travel industry has an extra ten years to do so.

The new law also makes it easier for workers to save money in other kinds of retirement plans.

Defined contribution plans do not offer guaranteed benefits. Instead, employees, and usually their employers, add money to an investment plan that is not taxed. When workers retire, they can withdraw money from the plan.

One example is the four-oh-one-K plan. Part of the new pension law makes it easier for employers to offer investment advice to employees with four-oh-one-K plans.

The new law also makes permanent a law that increases the amount of money that people can put into an Individual Retirement Account, or I.R.A. Workers can save money in I.R.As tax-free until retirement.

Experts say many current pension plans do not have enough money to provide the benefits promised to workers. Total pension deficits⁴ are estimated at between three hundred and four hundred fifty thousand million dollars.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation rescues pensions of failed companies or businesses that cannot meet their plan's requirements.

Earlier this week, the P.B.G.C. took over the pensions of almost two thousand workers and retirees for Oneida Limited, a maker⁵ of cooking tools. The P.B.G.C. says it pays monthly benefits to almost seven hundred thousand retirees in about three thousand six hundred pension plans.

Experts say the new pension law shows how much retirement has changed in America. In the past, most employees expected to retire from a job they held for most of their working life. Today, workers need pension plans that can be moved from one employer to another.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts⁶ and archives are at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

5 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句