Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) on Tuesday became the latest large company to move away from a traditional pension plan.

Starting in January, Dow will not offer new salaried hires its traditional pension plan. Instead, they will get a so-called cash balance account. Dow will contribute 5% of their pay, plus interest, to the account, which will vest after three years.

Dow, which has 43,000 workers, said it started evaluating new retirement plan options after the Pension Protection Act passed. The company said the cash balance plan will allow it to keep a competitive retirement plan with less volatile expenses.

Courtesy of CNNMoney.com