Is it sensible to require DB plans to be fully funded?

[Sandman62]

But fully funding a plan does change it's effectiveness in attracting and retaining employees. Employees may be attracted to a company with a DB plan, but if that plan is weakly funded they will tend to discount it. This is similar to bonus plans that provide conditional compensation. Companies with plans that pay regularly and consistently find that employees view the bonus as part of compensation when evaluating job offers. Companies that offer a bonus that pays irregularly or pays based on conditions outside of an employee's control find that employees don't consider the bonus, or discount it heavily, when evaluating job offers.

+1. I've stayed 27 years at a private company and will get around a 55-60% pension at age 55 - for which I never contributed a nickel. My DW will get 60% of that when I'm gone. Plus same health benefit plan as now til Medicare. I think the plan is over 90% funded.

I'd say the average tenure in my department (IT) is 20 years. And probably close to half of us (of 200) are within 5-10 years of retirement.

Honestly, when I was a 23-yr old kid and started at my job, I didn't look at the pension. But after a few years in, and even moreso all these years later, many of us HAVE looked at the value of our pension and other benefits when considering other jobs. And most have stayed.

In my case, I'm looking forward to ER in 5 years, and a rock-solid private employer with a great free pension is a large part of the reason why.