Read excerpt below:

May 21, 2009
By Sandra Block
USA Today

Nine years ago, Devon Group, a small public relations and marketing group based in Middletown, N.J., began offering a traditional pension
plan to its employees.

Business was booming, and the costs of offering the benefit "seemed very reasonable," says Jeanne Achille, Devon's chief executive officer. A pension plan also provided some valuable tax benefits for he firm, she says.

But after the economy deteriorated last year, "We realized that this was going to be too rich a benefit for us to continue," Achille says. "You're required to fund the plan every year, regardless of whether your profits are where you'd like them to be." Rather than continue funding the plan, Devon Group voluntarily terminated its pension and sent each employee a check for the amount accrued.

Read entire article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/2009-05-21-traditional-pensions-dying_N.htm