This accounting change in no way affects the actual value or security of our pension or post-retirement assets. No cash will leave the plan or flow back to Lucent as a result of this change.

Our outside auditors agree this change is preferable.

Our battle for retirement security included exhaustive efforts in the courts, on Capitol Hill and at the bargaining table. Within the context of bankruptcy and today's political climate, this agreement provides a foundation of retirement security for flight attendants.

Retirement funds are the security that you're building up over the course of your working years and you don't want to put them in jeopardy. So if a person is going to do that, they should really make sure that the payback is there, that the means of paying back the loan is there.

Stock options can overshadow the value of a retirement plan in a heartbeat. I've had clients who made millions by waiting a few weeks.

We really need to think about four pillars for retirement. ... The first pillar is Social Security. The second is individual pensions or savings. The third is health insurance, very important. And the fourth, surprisingly, is the continued ability to earn, because many people are going to need to find some way of bringing in earnings after they pass normal retirement age, and we think that that should be more and more emphasized in terms of getting ready for that possibility.