J.C. Penney Cuts its Pension Obligation With Lump-Sums and Prudential Annuities

J.C. Penney on Friday said it's cut its $5 billion pension obligation by more than 25 percent completing a lump-sum offer to 12,000 retirees and buying annuities for 43,000 retirees. No changes were made to pension plan benefits to active employees. Penney closed the plan to new hires in 2007. Most large U.S. companies only offer 401k plans where employees make tax-deferred contributions and employers can vary their contributions.