United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan

United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan is severely underfunded at 51%, with $3.1B in unfunded liability. Plans in this bracket face significant solvency risk and are typically on regulatory funding-improvement plans, with active intervention from PBGC for private plans or state pension boards for public ones.

United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan is a multi-employer pension plan sponsored by UMWA — a collectively-bargained plan covering workers across multiple employers in the same industry or union. Multi-employer plans are PBGC-insured but under a different (and historically less-funded) program than single-employer 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.

The plan is mid-sized: $3.3B in assets, 73,913 participants (64 active, 49,738 retired). Mid-sized plans often outsource investment management to institutional advisors and follow standard actuarial conventions. Participant mix skews toward retirees (49,738 retired vs 64 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: $80M in sponsor contributions versus $380M in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 5.0%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 6.5%.

PBGC risk classification: high. The plan is on enhanced monitoring and may face funding-improvement or rehabilitation-plan requirements depending on multi-year trajectory. Multi-employer plans like United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan have PBGC backing under a separate (and historically lower-funded) guarantee program. The 2021 American Rescue Plan provided substantial federal support to the multi-employer system, but long-term solvency varies plan-by-plan.