business woman and two men smiling While sponsors want to fund pensions as fully as possible to mitigate mounting PBGC premium exposure, October Three's analysis shows many of those plans aren't optimizing timing and reporting of contributions. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Sponsors of private-sector single-employer defined benefit plans paid less in premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in 2018, despite the scheduled increases in the costs to insure retirement plans.

Roughly 5,000 plans with at least 250 participants account for more than 95 percent of PBGC premium revenue. Collectively, the plans paid $1.2 billion less in premiums in 2018, an 18 percent drop from 2017, according to October Three, an actuarial consulting firm.

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Nick Thornton

Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.