pension plans

With the bankruptcy proceedings of American Airlines parent company AMR having just gotten under way, it's too early to tell what it might mean for employees. But past bankruptcies offer a roadmap for what can happen to workers anywhere when their employer goes under -- they often end up holding the short end of the stick.

The conventional wisdom is that young people today expect they'll change employers repeatedly, and thus don't really care about pensions. But it turns out the conventional wisdom is wrong. With 401(k)s looking less secure, a defined-benefit plan is a real lure for younger workers.

The reward for working 35 years at a modestly paying job in the public sector has long been security and the promise of a pension that nearly equaled and occasionally exceeded what a worker was receiving when he accepted his gold watch. And in most cases, these pension promises were indexed for...