PBGC

For the law partners at Dewey & LeBoeuf, losing their jobs may be the least of their worries. They are likely to lose the money they were required to invest in the firm. They could lose their pensions.

Josh Gotbaum scored a coup last month for the obscure-but-important federal agency he runs when American Airlines parent AMR Corp. reversed plans to dump its underfunded pension plans on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

Pensions used to be a reliable stream of retirement income, but these twists and turns could put a pension benefit in jeopardy.

Employees are transient. Look at your own life: Even if you’re in your 20s or early 30s, it’s possible you’ve already worked with several different employers. One report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that the boomer group studied held an average of 11 jobs while they were between the ages of 18 and 44.