Where are you calling from? http://tube8.in.net/ tube 8 If you're worried about a pension, the key figure to watch is your plan's funded status - that is, the percentage of assets on hand to pay promised benefits. Actuaries generally use 80 percent as a floor for safe funding levels. But the figures depend heavily on the assumptions by fund managers on their expected rate of return on portfolios over time. And those assumptions have become very controversial.