General Motors Salaried Pension Plan

General Motors Salaried Pension Plan is underfunded: 71% funding ratio, with $187M in unfunded actuarial liability against $468M in plan assets. Plans below 75% funded face heightened regulatory scrutiny and usually require higher sponsor contributions or benefit adjustments to recover.

General Motors Salaried Pension Plan is a corporate pension plan sponsored by General Motors — a single-employer defined-benefit plan governed by ERISA and insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Corporate plans peaked in U.S. usage in the 1980s and have been in steady decline since, mostly replaced by 401(k) plans. The plan remains active — accruing new benefits for current employees and accepting new participants. Among private-sector single-employer plans, the active status is increasingly rare as employers freeze accruals while continuing to fund existing obligations; public-sector plans are more often still actively accruing.

General Motors Salaried Pension Plan is a smaller plan with $468M in assets and 3,061 participants. Small plans may have simpler investment structures but the same regulatory requirements as larger ones — the fixed cost of compliance is one reason smaller employers have moved away from defined-benefit plans. Participant mix skews toward retirees (2,044 retired vs 375 active) — a mature plan paying out more than it accrues. Mature plans need stable investment returns plus sponsor contributions to keep the funded ratio steady; the cash-flow profile is increasingly net-negative. Annual cash flows: $400M in sponsor contributions versus $2.5B in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 7.4%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 5.5%.

PBGC risk classification: moderate. The plan's funded status puts it under enhanced monitoring but not active intervention. Corporate ERISA plans like General Motors Salaried Pension Plan carry PBGC insurance, which guarantees retiree benefits up to a federally-set maximum even if the sponsor defaults. The guarantee is meaningful but capped — high earners may see benefit haircuts in a termination scenario.