Excerpt: As pension plans become vulnerable because of underfunding or corporate bankruptcies, workers must decide whether to take their payout in a lump sum or agree to an annuity and, perhaps, risk learning later that they might receive a fraction of the benefit they had expected. 'The pros of taking a lump sum outweigh the cons much more today than five or 10 years ago,' says Eric Hutchinson, certified financial planner[.]

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