"The cost of a pension plan, paid by making contributions over time, is a function of the pensions paid out and of the investment earnings of the fund. Period. Costs are not a function of assumptions. Real management of a pension plan involves setting the level of pensions and deciding how to invest the assets. The cost of the plan -- again, paid by making contributions over time -- is unaffected by assumptions. It is simply the sum total of the pension payments to plan members, offset by the pension fund's investment earnings."